American Girl
by coldplaywhore
Summary: Before starting her freshman year of college, Bella decided to backpack through Europe for two months. On her travels, she meets priveledged black sheep Edward Cullen, who takes an instant liking to her & wants to join her on her trip and much more. lemon
1. Forks Washington

**A/N: Chapter 1 of the new story. Review please and let me know what you like, what you hate etc… Chapter 2 will follow closely behind. Bear in mind that I am not putting a hold on my other story, follow through. I just needed to get these first few chappies out there to my loving audience.**

**BPOV**

"You should pack a winter jacket," said my mom as she helped me sort through my closet for the last time before leaving for the airport. I rolled my eyes and pulled out a few more t-shirts and pairs of underwear from my dresser.

"It will be summer in Europe too mom. I won't need a winter jacket. I've got my trusty hoodie packed, and a light jacket. I'm sure that will be more than sufficient. If it gets too cold, I'll stay indoors… how's that?" I asked in frustration, as I shoved my cosmetics case into my big red backpack. I had driven into Seattle with my best friend Angela to visit REI and pick out the largest, yet sturdiest backpack I could find. She recommended a bright red one so that I was able to find it easily when I had to check it, which would be on every flight I had to take because it was too big for carry on luggage. Instead, I had a smaller bag for carry on. My mother insisted on sewing a Canadian flag patch on it though because she thought Europeans would be nicer to me if they thought I was Canadian, rather than American. I just let her do it because I was tired of listening to her bitch about it for two weeks. The last thing I wanted to do during my last week in Forks was argue with my mother.

"Do you have your passport?" asked my dad, Charlie as he popped his head into my bedroom.

"Yes, I have my passport. I have my money, my Eurorail pass and my calling cards," I sighed for a moment before I continued. "I also have my plane tickets to New York and London, my book about traveling through Europe by rail, my camera with extra memory cards and the phone number for Great Aunt Charlotte in Ireland." I watched as my parents both nodded at the same time. They weren't overly excited that I had decided to take this trip before I moved to New York in September for college, but I couldn't bear another summer in Forks. So when I ended up getting my full ride to Columbia for Art History, I decided to spend some of the money I had managed to save on a two month long trip to Europe. I would travel by train across as many countries as I could, seeing as many different sights and cities as was possible. I was planning to stay at various hostels, which of course was irritating for Charlie, but I couldn't afford the five star hotels he wished I could stay at.

"Here, you should take this with you," said Charlie has he tried to hand me a small can of mace.

"Dad, I won't even get through airport security with this," I stammered in frustration. He took it back reluctantly and watched remorsefully as I closed the zipper on my bag and tossed into onto my back and headed down the stairs to put it in the waiting car.

Angela and her boyfriend Ben showed up a few moments after we got back downstairs. We were supposed to do the trip together, we had talked about it for years, but when the time came for us to book our tickets, she backed out. Her father had been diagnosed with cancer half way through our junior year, and things were getting progressively worse for him, so she decided to stay to be with him. I couldn't blame her; I would have done the exact same thing if it had been Charlie. Her father, Mr. Weber tried to convince her to come with me, even if it was just for two weeks, but Angela knew her place was with her dad, so I'm flying solo on the trip now.

"Send us lots of postcards," smiled Angela as she pulled me into another big hug. I had known Angela since the first grade when we both showed up wearing the exact same outfit. It appeared that both of our parents loved to shop at Target. We had a going away party a few days earlier, where we managed to get extremely wasted and spent most of the night crying about how this was supposed to be 'our' trip. Well, she cried and I offered support.

"You'll take care of her right?" I asked of Ben. They had been dating for the past two years and were one of the cutest couples at Forks High. They were even heading off to college together in Seattle in the fall. I watched as Ben quietly nodded his head in response to my question.

"Don't forget to visit the Louvre in Paris and the National Gallery in London. I hear they have an excellent impressionist exhibit." Angela wasn't into art, but during our time planning the trip, she had gone a little overboard and already knew everything that was happening in each city we were supposed to visit. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I had thrown out the itinerary we had set and I was going to decide on the spur of the moment where to go and what to do.

"You know you can come back whenever you want right? You don't have to stay two months in Europe," said my mother Renee as I tossed my backpack in the back of Charlie's police cruiser after Angela and Ben left. They had insisted on driving me to the airport together, but a few days earlier my mother's old Ford officially died on the side of the highway, so here we stood, offering up awkward farewells in front of Charlie's beloved Crown Victoria. We had all agreed over dinner the night before to say our tear-filled goodbyes at the house, so we wouldn't make a big scene at the Sea-Tac airport. It wasn't going well.

"Don't take any weird drugs and don't wander down dark streets late at night," recommended Renee as we drove in near silence to the airport. "And don't talk to strangers."

"Everyone in Europe is a stranger to me mom. What do you expect me to do? Bring a chalkboard and write notes in foreign languages? I didn't study basic French and Italian for nothing," I remarked in frustration as I tried to ignore her advice. I shoved my ear buds back into my ears and turned up my music, in an effort to calm my nerves. I had never been away from either one of my parents for more than three nights, so two months will be a huge stretch for me. Renee bought me a hundred dollars worth of calling cards so that I could check in with her on a frequent basis. With my luck, they probably won't even work in Europe.

We pulled up in front of the 'departures' section of the airport and Charlie helped me unload my bag from the car as my mom pulled me in for yet another hug. I don't think she had hugged me as much in the past eighteen years of my life as she had in the past seven days.

"Be safe kiddo," said Charlie as he squeezed me tightly and I disappeared through the automatic doors to find my check in stand. I took a quick look back towards my parents and saw my dad hugging my mom who was crying inconsolably. I felt a small pang of remorse for leaving them, but this was something I had been dying to do and would regret even more if I didn't do it. After checking in and going through all the security checkpoints, I eased myself into a chair outside my gate and waited impatiently. I looked through the crowd of people that were catching the same flight as me to JFK in New York City. A lot of business men and women primarily. There was one family with kids and I just prayed that their youngest, who looked about five wasn't sitting anywhere near me. When we finally boarded and were all sitting in our seats, I turned up my iPod to the traveling playlist I had made and closed my eyes, eager to sleep before my layover and I finally headed to London. Stop one on the Bella Swan Trip of a Lifetime.

**EPOV**

I hated JFK Airport. I had travelled a lot in my nineteen years, thanks to my practically nomadic parents who actually preferred that I call them by their first names, Carlisle and Esme. I think my hatred of JFK probably stemmed from the sheer number of people who travelled through here everyday. My best friend, Jasper, used to always joke that I hated people and this was his theory as to why I was spending the next two months traipsing through Europe by myself.

As I sat at my gate, listening to my iPod and waiting for my flight to board, I thought about how lucky I was to not have to spend the summer in the Hamptons with the rest of my pretentious family. Even though my parents were a little flighty, they had come from rich influential families and this had always worked to my benefit. When Jasper and I were caught 'borrowing' a boat from the local yacht club last summer, all was forgiven because my grandfather was such a long standing member. When it was time to decide on a college, I went against tradition and picked the music program at NYU. My grandfather kept insisting he'd disown me because I wasn't going to Yale, where the last nine Cullen's had graduated and my older brother Emmett was currently a student. I was the black sheep of the family and I basked in it.

So, here I sit, patiently awaiting my flight to London so I can embarrass my family further by trekking across Europe and staying in hostels or on park benches instead of the five star hotels my father, I mean Carlisle, tried to book for me. I started scanning through the waiting area to see who else was getting on our Trans-Atlantic flight. A few of the standard businessmen, a group of older ladies on a tour and a young couple who couldn't keep their hands off of each other, so I deduced that they were probably newlyweds. A few seats down from their grope fest sat a very pretty girl, who was probably around my age. Her long dark hair was pulled into a ponytail and her eyes were closed as she bobbed her head gently to her music. I watched her with morbid curiosity. She strummed her fingers along her knee to the beat of her music and often reached up and twirled the hair hanging down from her ponytail. She was definitely cute.

I grabbed my bag and moved seats so that I was sitting in the same row of chairs as her. I thought about how to approach her. I could just say hello or ask her about her music, but that seemed really lame. I never had a problem talking to girls before, but there seemed to be something different about her. So I turned sideways on my chair and faced her, waiting to see if she would notice me, but she didn't. Her eyes stayed shut and she started to mouth the words to the song she was listening to. I had no idea what it was. Almost twenty minutes later, they started to board our plane, but the lovely brunette never moved. I tapped her lightly on the shoulder and her eyes opened and got very wide when she saw me standing in front of her.

"They're boarding now," I said nervously as I stared into her dark brown eyes as though they held all the answers to life's little mysteries.

"Oh, thanks," she said happily as she blushed a beautiful shade of pink. She then began to gather up her things and lined up to get on our flight. My mind was working a mile a minute and I was trying to figure out how I could talk to her some more. Her voice sounded like that of an angel, and we had a long flight to Heathrow. Certainly talking to her for a while would make everything more bearable.

When I took my seat in first class, I glanced back and noticed that Bella was sitting beside a large sweaty looking older man in a bright red golf shirt. I grabbed the arm of the first stewardess I could find and asked if they would be willing to see if the man would change seats with me. She nodded at me happily and went to speak to him. I watched blissfully as he gathered up his belongings and wandered up to my seat. "Thanks," I said to the gentleman as he waited for me to finish moving. I was finally glad that Carlisle had forced me to buy the first class seat, instead of coach like I had insisted. I headed down the aisle of the plane and shoved my bag under the chair and sat down beside the lovely looking creature, whose facial expression was that of curiosity.

"I'm Edward. Edward Cullen," I said as I extended my hand to her politely.

"Bella," she replied curtly as she reached for her iPod.

"You have to wait for the flight to take off before you can listen to your iPod," I said confidently, even though I realized I sounded like a parent. "Or that's what I've heard." I said, trying to correct myself and not seem like too much of a douche. "Where are you headed?"

"I'm going to India. Where do you think I'm going?" she replied as her words dripped with sarcasm. She was a bit of a spitfire, and I was thoroughly enjoying the banter I was creating between us.

"I hear it's nice there. Monkeys and cows line the streets. Very clean," I laughed contentedly, hoping that I could hold her attention for more than a few playful minutes. Instead, she rolled her eyes and smiled lightly.

"Why did you leave first class to come sit beside me?" she asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Why not? I was sitting alone and you were sitting with the kool-aid mascot and you looked uncomfortable, so I switched. Are you mad at me?" I couldn't tell by her current expression if she was upset or not. She certainly was an interesting girl, I'd give her that. I've never had a problem reading people, but Bella was an entirely different story. I had no idea what was going on in that pretty little head of hers.

"It's fine. I'm just gonna let you know that if you start stalking me when we get off the plane, I will be calling Scotland Yard." I just laughed at her funny threat.

"Scotland Yard? Really Bella? Just say the Police. I think Scotland Yard probably has more important things to do then hunt down a nineteen year old from Massachusetts who was talking to a girl on a plane. How about we call Interpol too? Or the U.N. this must be some sort of war crime right?" I laughed thickly as I watched her scowl turn into a smile. She had finally found me funny.

"Ok, well, not Scotland Yard then, but I would definitely call the police if you showed up at my hostel or anywhere else I was going," she replied honestly. My head started reeling at her words. She was staying at a hostel, just like I was. Maybe even the same hostel if I was lucky.

"So what brings you to London anyways?"

"It's just a quick stop for me actually. I'm there for two days before I travel over to Paris and start to use my Eurorail pass. I'm travelling through Europe for the next two months before I head off to college in September." This just became my lucky day. This attractive girl was doing the exact same thing as me for the next nine weeks. I would have to find an excuse to meet up with her again while in London. I felt this resolute need to see her again after this flight.

It looks like she may need to call Scotland Yard after all.


	2. New York to London

**A/N: Chapter 2, just like I promised. Be gentle with my and my information on Europe through the rest of the story. I've never been out of North America. I should have sent them to Montreal or Quebec City, something that would have been easier on me ******

**Bella POV**

When he woke me from my reverie while waiting for our flight, he caught me completely off guard. I had been enjoying listening to the 'All American Rejects' on my iPod when I felt a gentle tapping on my shoulder.

"They're boarding now," he said politely, but I was staring at his intense green eyes. I blushed almost immediately when I found myself glaring at his bronze colored hair, which looked like it had just been through a wind tunnel. It was everywhere, but it was sexy. I nervously gathered my stuff into my bag and lined up to get on the flight.

It was only a few minutes later, when my seat mate, a larger man in a bright red shirt, stood and moved seats. Suddenly the hot guy from the waiting area was seated next to me and he wore the brightest smile I had ever seen.

"I'm Edward. Edward Cullen," he said as he offered me his hand. I didn't take it though. I was kind of weirded out that this guy had just changed seats from first class to come and sit beside me.

"Bella," I replied abruptly as I tried to find my iPod in my carryon baggage. I pulled it out and placed it gently on my lap, reaching the ear buds into my ears.

"You have to wait for the flight to take off before you can listen to your iPod," It was like taking a plane with my mother. I anticipated him handing me the safety brochure from the pouch in front of us so that he could remind me where all the exits were. He was sexy, but he was odd." Where are you headed?"

"I'm going to India. Where do you think I'm going?" I answered in frustration. He couldn't seem to take a hint could he?

"I hear it's nice there. Monkeys and cows line the streets. Very clean," Edward started to laugh at his own joke, and it was actually very cute. I smiled back at him involuntarily because the sound of his laugh made me do it. Damn sexy hair and cute laugh.

"Why did you leave first class to come sit beside me?"

"Why not? I was sitting alone and you were sitting with the kool-aid mascot and you looked uncomfortable, so I switched. Are you mad at me?" I wasn't sure what I was. He was behaving oddly, but at the same time, it was kind of endearing.

"It's fine. I'm just gonna let you know that if you start stalking me when we get off the plane, I will be calling Scotland Yard." I said with a big smile across my face. Charlie had quizzed me on the major police departments in almost every European country, and even though I had found it redundant when he explained everything, I hadn't thought I would need to refer to it so quickly.

"Scotland Yard? Really Bella? Just say the Police. I think Scotland Yard probably has more important things to do then hunt down a nineteen year old from Massachusetts who was talking to a girl on a plane. How about we call Interpol too? Or the U.N. this must be some sort of war crime right?" I laughed along with him for a moment and found myself wondering more things about him. He was from Massachusetts, but he didn't have a thick accent. I questioned how old he was, and where he was going to college, if he was going at all.

"Ok, well, not Scotland Yard then, but I would definitely call the police if you showed up at my hostel or anywhere else I was going," I said confidently, even though I had given up a little bit too much information on my current situation.

"So what brings you to London anyways?" he asked with a sly grin on his face. Even when he was smug, he was sexy.

"It's just a quick stop for me actually. I'm there for two days before I travel over to Paris and start to use my Eurorail pass. I'm travelling through Europe for the next two months before I head off to college in September." Damn it. There I go again revealing too much information for my own good. I just shook my head in frustration with myself, and gripped the arm rests of the plane as we started to take off.

"Here chew some gum," offered Edward sweetly as he handed me a piece of Wrigley's. "It always makes me feel better during take off." I grabbed the gum and forced it into my mouth, eagerly chewing on it so that I could relax a bit. "If you have problems flying, why are you going to Europe?" he laughed casually.

"I'm taking the train in Europe. Plus, I wasn't going to waste all my time getting to Europe by taking a boat or something. I can handle the flight. I travelled from Washington to New York with no problems," I said confidently.

"Washington D.C. or Washington State?" he asked curiously.

"Washington State. I flew in from Seattle. My parents live in a little town on the western side of the state. My dad's the police chief and my mom teaches kindergarten." I sighed for a moment as I let myself recall my parents. It had only been about eight hours since I left them in front of the Sea-Tac airport, but I missed them already.

"Sounds so… all American," laughed Edward as I told him about my family.

"Thanks for belittling my existence," I snapped as I put my ear buds in and turned on my iPod. He reached his hands up and pulled my headphones out quickly.

"I told you that you can't listen to your music yet," he said in frustration. "And I didn't mean to belittle you or your family. It just sounds too good to be true. You probably have a dog, a cat and live in a house with a white picket fence, right?"

"Close," I laughed angrily as I realized he really had guessed correctly about my family. "My dog is a German Shepherd, but he's more of a police dog than a regular dog. The cat died a few weeks ago when it got run over by my best friends' boyfriend, but the white picket fence is there." Edward just nodded his head smugly. He was really pleased with himself that he was able to pinpoint my family so easily. "So, what's your story?"

"I was adopted by a gang of wolves when I was little and raised in the jungle," he started before I looked at him in frustration. "Well, it was close." He laughed. "I'm one of those privileged rich kids whose parents were barely around and when they were around, they didn't care. I got everything handed to me on a silver platter, but I never wanted any of it. I'm kind of the black sheep in my family. No one really approves of me traveling through Europe this summer, because they all thought I would want to be in the Hamptons with them, attending debutante balls and doing coke."

I tried to smile, but it was really forced. Edward was a lot more complicated than I gave him credit for. He smiled back at me and I could tell he hoped that I wasn't thinking badly of him. "No wonder you tell people you were raised by wolves," I joked amiably.

"It's not all bad. I drive a sweet car, I don't have a curfew and all my friends are rich, but it's not the life I would have chosen for myself," said Edward with an inflection of sadness to his words.

"What would you choose?"

"Something easier. I'm the middle child and my older brother and younger sister can do no wrong. It feels odd to me what no matter what I do, it's never seems good enough for my parents. I got accepted into every college I applied, but in my grandfather's eyes there was only one choice, Yale."

"You're going to Yale?" I asked, sounding a bit too surprised.

"I didn't say that. I said I got into Yale and my grandfather wanted me to go there. I'm one of those stupid legacy things. The last nine Cullen's have graduated from Yale, and it is just assumed that I would be number ten. My dad wants me to be a doctor like him, and I can't even stand the sight of blood, so it's a moot point."

"What are you going to do? Are you even going to college?" I asked curiously. Ever since he started discussing his family, I had gotten more interested in Edward. He was certainly not the stalker I had pegged him for when he first switched seats and sat beside me.

"I'm going to study music at NYU." My mouth kind of dropped open. He was going to end up in New York City at the end of this trip, just like I would. I didn't tell him that though. "What are you doing in the fall?

"I'm going to Northwestern." Sure, I was going to Chicago. Anywhere other than New York. I don't know why I felt the intense need to hide my future plans with Edward, but I did. "I'm taking Art History."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the pilot has just turned off the seatbelt sign, so you are now free to roam around the cabin. We do request that you have your seat belt on at all times when you are seated. If you have any electronic devices such as laptops or DVD or CD players, you are welcome to turn them on now," said the pleasant voice of our stewardess as she stood at the front of the cabin.

"You can listen to your iPod now," said Edward, looking slightly resigned to the fact that I wanted to listen to my music. I wrapped my ear buds around my iPod and shoved it back into my bag.

"Talking to you is a little better than my music right now," I said happily. Edward offered up a huge smile and we eased happily into our conversation.

**Edward POV**

She actually chose talking to me over listening to her music. This was a good thing. I wanted desperately to get off the conversation which currently surrounded my family and college, so I started to discuss something she seemed interested in.

"So, what were you listening to?" I asked curiously as I pointed to her iPod she had just put away into her carryon bag.

"It was the 'All American Rejects' when you interrupted me in the airport," she remarked casually.

"Meh, they're alright." I answered quickly. Bella just shrugged her shoulders, apparently not caring about my opinion of music. "What else do you like?"

"I like long walks on the beach, movies starring Kate Hudson and Sandra Bullock, long soft kisses and guys who fidget nervously when girls talk about kissing," she said with a sly grin.

"I meant what kind of music do you like?" I asked again. Although, she had caught me when I started to pull on the ends of my shirt sleeves when she mentioned the kissing.

"I was kidding anyways. I'm actually not a fan of any of that. Well, maybe the kissing, but that's beside the point," she stammered cutely. "I listen to everything, except electronica and dance. I have to draw the line somewhere."

"Well, that sounds logical," I joked as I told her a bit more about my musical tastes. We talked quietly for almost an hour about all things music. I told her how I could play piano and guitar and she actually perked up when I mentioned this. I wanted to ask her if she wanted to spend a few days with me in London, but that was definitely bordering on creepy. We were spending the entire summer doing the exact same thing, why not do it together?

"So, why are you traveling alone? Aren't you a bit young?" I asked nervously, hoping to get some additional information from her.

"I was supposed to travel with my best friend Angela. Her dad is sick though, so she cancelled. I couldn't bear not to come on the trip, so here I am. My parents didn't exactly approve of me doing this without her, but I'll be fine. Plus, how young do you think I am?" she snapped in disappointment. I just looked at her feeling confused and remorseful for implying she was young. "I'm eighteen, and you can't be much older than me."

"I'm not. I'm nineteen," I admitted with a slight grin. She smiled pleasantly and ran her fingers through her ponytail again. She was nervous for some reason and running her hands through her hair was how she dealt with her awkwardness. "So, what are you going to do in London?"

"I'm going to wander the streets, take photos, visit as many art galleries as I can." She answered, her voice teeming with excitement. "In two days I'm gonna take the train to Paris, where I will head somewhere, anywhere with my rail pass. I'm just kinda flying by the seat of my pants. I haven't decided where I want to go to first. Maybe Greece or Portugal. I've practiced Italian, so maybe I'll go to Rome."

It was adorable watching Bella talk about her trip with such enthusiasm. It made me feel more excited about my travels, even though they would probably pale in comparison to hers. She wanted to experience every little thing that Europe had to offer and I was just running away from my family. Bella talked about seeing the Parthenon and the Coliseum. She mentioned how much she always dreamed of floating in a gondola down the canals in Venice and how she wanted to walk along a beach in Portugal. As I sat beside her, forcing the airplane dinner down my throat, I choked slightly.

"Are you okay?" she asked sweetly as she grabbed my arm. I looked down at stared at us, where her hand met my forearm. I suddenly realized that I wanted to experience everything she was discussing, but I wanted to do it with her. _What the fuck was I going to do?_

"Yeah. I'm fine. So where are you going tomorrow?" I asked, trying to sound as casual as possible while I plotted a way to run into her wherever the hell she was going. I spent the last hour of the flight quietly trying to figure out how to keep Bella in my orbit for the next two months.

"I think I'm going to the National Gallery. What about you?" I scanned my brain trying to think of somewhere in London that I could claim I was going to.

"Buckingham Palace," I lied confidently. Bella just nodded her head and smiled at me as we listened to the pilot inform us that we were about to descend into Heathrow. Local time was seven in the evening. "Thanks for making the flight a little more bearable."

"Yeah, it was nice," said Bella as she ran her hand through her hair again. She was as nervous as I was. She didn't want us to go our separate ways either, or so I was busy convincing myself. We walked casually together to the baggage claim and I watched in awe as she picked up a huge red bag with a Canadian Flag on it. If I ever saw her again, I was definitely going to ask about the flag. She threw the bag over her shoulder with ease and turned around, giving me a quick wave, before she headed away from me.

I would be at the National Gallery all day tomorrow if I had to. I would wait for her and convince her to let me follow her around Europe. I would tell her that I wanted to see everything she did, even if some of it was a lie. I suddenly felt like I was turning into some creepy stalker but I couldn't help it. She intrigued me and made me laugh. She had a sense of enthusiasm and raw innocence I had never seen in anyone in my entire. I was going to travel around Europe with her, whether she liked it or not.


	3. London

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for the awesome reviews. Bear in mind, this story will be updated slower than my others because I don't know anything about Europe and I am doing the research to try and make it s exact as possible. There will also be a lot of art references etc… because I am a huge art fan.**

**Amigirl – I wish I had a million stories in my brain. Every single one of them stems from something else I have seen or done. With 'follow through' it was actually inspired by a scene in 'LOST' and with this story, it was a combination of the song 'American Girl' by Tom Petty and the movie 'Chasing Liberty'.**

**Lysvia – welcome back, sorta. Let me know when you are back full time and I will harass you more often. Your reviews always make me smile.**

**Lovebugkiss – here's hoping my story provides you with some insight to your own future journey.**

**Orlissa92 – Please feel free to share any insight with me in regards to Hungary. I'm not sure which countries I am going to have them visit, but Hungary was on the list of potentials. So perhaps if you info is good, I can send them there.**

**BPOV**

I walked casually down College Crescent towards the Hostel I had booked for the next two nights. It was one of the best hostels in London, according to everything I had read and all the online reviews, and it actually had private rooms, so it was one of the first things I had booked for the trip. After I got settled in and ran out for a quick dinner, I was eager to get onto one of the communal computers in the lobby and email my parents and Angela.

I plopped down in the oversized chair and logged into the email account I had created specifically for my trip, americangirl1990. It was simple enough to remember and I had emailed all of my friends before I left and reminded them to use this email for the next two months. I already had three emails when I logged on, two from my mom and one from Angela. I emailed my mother first and let her know that I had arrived safely and there had been no issues whatsoever on either flights or checking into the hostel. I told her I hadn't had a chance to see much of the city yet, but after a good night's sleep I would be out to the National Gallery, and possibly Buckingham Palace the following day. I tried to encourage her not to worry about me, but of course that would be futile. She worried like crazy when we would go on school field trips, so a two month journey across Europe wasn't going to help matters.

I emailed Angela next and told her almost the same things as my mother, including the stuff about not worrying about me. However, I added some details about my flight between New York and London to her email. I told her a bit about Edward and our conversations. I desperately wanted her thoughts on the topic. I mentioned how cute he was and how his hair constantly fell over his eyes and I wanted to push it away. I told her how he specifically switched seats out of first class so that he could sit beside me. I realized shortly after sending the email that I was smiling, and the words I had written sounded like I was gushing about him. _Oh my god, I had a crush on Edward._ Not that I could do anything about it now. He was probably at some club in town, drinking a Guinness and hitting on the first thing with a heartbeat. I distracted myself from my thoughts of Edward by checking the train schedule to Paris for two days from now. Today was Sunday, and I wanted to leave London on Tuesday, so I reviewed everything they offered and decided I would take the 11am train direct into Paris. I wrote my information down in my notebook and checked my email once more before heading to bed. There was a response from Angela.

_Bella,_

_Go find this guy. He sounds adorable and perfect. You're both in Europe for the summer, wouldn't you like a travelling companion that you knew wasn't some crazy nutcase? What if you guys end up falling in love? You are both moving to NYC in the fall. It's so perfect, like a movie. FIND HIM BELLA._

_Love You,_

_Angela_

She was online, and I was grateful for this, so I quickly responded back to her and told her she was crazy if she thought I was going to spend the next day hunting Edward down and finding out if he wanted to travel with me. Of course he didn't. If he had even thought about it, he probably would have mentioned something before we parted at baggage claim at Heathrow. I emailed Angela about all my concerns, and she responded just as quickly as she had before.

_Bella, _

_Just go and get him. I'm not dismissing your concerns, but what if you have it all wrong and he wants you too? Take the bull by the horns, you're in fricking London, England, live a little, and write me back when you've got him._

_Pull your head out of your ass and follow your heart, or crotch, whichever you prefer._

_Angela_

I didn't write her back. Instead, I went up to my room and tried to think of how to find Edward. She was right after all, like usual. It would be a nice to have a travelling buddy, and he was something nice to look at it. I didn't think I was really following my heart or my crotch like she claimed, but I could follow my head, which told me it wouldn't be a bad idea to share the trip with someone. I lay in the bed and stared at the ceiling for a few hours before finally falling asleep just after midnight, wondering about where Edward was.

The next morning, I awoke with new confidence and decided to visit Buckingham Palace after the National Gallery, just to see if he was there. If he wasn't, no harm, no foul; but if he was there, I had no idea what I would say to him. I was going to play it by ear, but first I was going to shower, put on something cute and head out to the gallery. I took the 'tube' to Charing Cross Station and glanced quickly at my map. I walked the few streets towards the Gallery and stood outside of it for a few minutes in awe. It had been one of my longest dreams to make it here, and as I looked at the large white building with daunting columns in front, it reminded me of the many buildings in Washington D.C. that my father Charlie had dragged me to when I was twelve and he was at the capital for a police conference. I found it kinda boring at the time, but I would definitely appreciate the architecture and beauty of it all now.

I stepped through the front doors and was subjected to a thorough security search even though I only had my small purse with me. As I grabbed a map of the Gallery, I wasn't sure where I wanted to start. I ended up going left and visiting the 'west wing' where I spent a long time staring at paintings by Da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo. If Angela was here, she would have commented that we were in the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' wing. I continued to wander happily through the various collections, as I tried to find my way around the Gallery. Of course, I wanted to visit the impressionist exhibit most of all because it was during my art classes in school where we were studying Monet, Manet and Seurat that I decided I wanted to go into Art History.

After passing down a long hallway with a few paintings by Rembrandt, I suddenly came across one of my favorite paintings,' Bathers at Asnieres' by George Seurat. I stood before it for way too long before I glanced at my watch and saw that it was already after two in the afternoon. I had hoped to be at Buckingham Palace already, to try to find Edward. Things were not going my way apparently. I decided to stop worrying about Edward and enjoy the rest of my time at the gallery, as I headed into a small room filled with the works of Claude Monet and and Edouard Manet.

"I like this one the best," said a strangely familiar voice behind me as he extended his hand towards 'Water Lilies' by Monet.

"Everyone likes it." I muttered as I turned around and saw Edward standing there, listening to the audio provided by the gallery to go along with the paintings. "Why do you like it?" I asked curiously, still reeling from the fact that he was standing before me.

"Umm… I like it because it's pretty?" he asked with a laugh as he sat down on a bench in the middle of the room and I reluctantly followed.

"What are you doing here?" I think my mouth might have stayed open as I said this, because I was still surprised he was now sitting in front of me, and some of my favorite paintings.

"I wanted to experience culture; I am in London for Christ sakes, right?" I frowned at him because I could tell he wasn't being honest with me. "Okay, I wanted to see you again." I think I was shocked even more than before, but it was a happy shocked. He wanted to see me just as much as I wanted to see him.

"Why?"

**EPOV**

Wow, she really did seem like she couldn't grasp a concept as simple as the fact that I wanted to see her. Unfortunately for her, I still liked it. It was cute and adorable and all sorts of other adjectives I would never use back in Boston.

"I wanted to spend more time with you," I admitted, suddenly feeling slightly regretful for opening my mouth at all, or even showing up at the Gallery. "Can I join you while you over analyze the paintings? There must be a few collections you haven't visited yet." I watched intently as she nodded her head and we stood up from the bench to go and look at a few more pictures.

"This is 'Sunflowers' by Van Gogh," remarked Bella happily as we stopped in front of what I thought was a rather depressing looking painting. The Monet was a lot nicer in my opinion, but then again, I knew nothing about Art.

"Wasn't he the guy who cut off his ear?" I asked with a small grin, because this was something I knew. It had been mentioned on my audio tape about half an hour earlier.

"Yeah, he was," smiled Bella, apparently pleased that I had some knowledge. I reminded myself to get one of these audio thingys at every gallery I could take her to, if she wanted me to join her at all.

"I don't like it. It looks like he put way too much paint on his brush and couldn't be bothered to wipe it off," I said as I moved back from the painting and watched Bella worship every little drop of paint. She really did love art, and apparently, this painting in particular.

"It's called impasto, where the paint is put on very thickly, to provide texture." I just nodded my head and continued to listen to her lecture on the painting. I could listen to her talk about various forms of fungus and I think I would still find myself inexplicably drawn to her.

We moved through a few more rooms and before I knew it, it was almost six o'clock at night and I was starving. "Wanna go get something to eat? My treat," I asked casually as she nodded her head and we walked out onto Trafalgar Square. We ended up agreeing on a small café that had seats outside on a cobblestone patio. I was nervous, because I knew if I didn't ask her soon, I'd never be able to get up the nerve.

"Thanks for not calling Scotland Yard on me," I laughed after the waiter took our order, and I tried to break the silence between us.

"Days not over yet Edward," she laughed casually as she took a sip of her Diet Pepsi. "Is something wrong?" She was totally reading my awkward behavior and I figured now was as good a time as any to ask her.

"I want to come with you," I stammered nervously as I grabbed the hem of my shirt and fidgeted in anticipation of her response

"Excuse me?" she said a little too loudly, when I suddenly realized that what I said could be misconstrued as something else; something a little more sexual.

"No, not like that. I want to travel with you. We're doing the same thing for the next two months, I just think we might have a better time if we did it together," I sighed expectantly. Bella said nothing, but her initial facial expression said that she wasn't sure if it was a good idea.

"I'm not sure," she finally said a few moments later.

"Why not? I think it would be cool to learn all about art from you while we travelled, visited galleries and some of the major tourist sites in the various countries. You can teach me about art and I can teach you about … something. I dunno what, but I'm sure I can help in some way," I laughed as Bella offered up a sweet smile. "We could probably save some money by booking one room with two beds at some of the hostels. It'll be fun."

"Let's enjoy our dinner and let me think about it." I watched Bella intently all through dinner, hoping she would give off some sort of vibe that said she was on board with my plans, but there was nothing. We talked casually about some of the things we planned to do in Europe, but we never once mentioned doing them together, so this was a bad sign for me.

"If I agree to this, it's strictly platonic right? This isn't your way of trying to get into my pants, is it?" She asked as she raised her eye brow curiously. I had to lie to her and I didn't feel that good about it. If I told her the truth, that yes, I was extremely attracted to her, she would definitely say no.

"Yeah, we're doing this as friends," I said, immediately feeling remorseful. I never had to lie to a woman to convince her to sleep with me, but I had to lie to Bella, otherwise I would never get another chance with her. "Does this mean you are saying yes?" I asked hopeful.

"No. I still don't know."

"Okay, here's the deal then. I'm leaving on the 11am train to Paris tomorrow morning out of St. Pancras station. If you want to come, meet me on the platform at like 10:30. If not, it's been nice knowing you, and be safe in your travels," I said with a heavy sigh as I paid the bill and walked away from the table, feeling like a complete idiot. I don't know what made me offer up an ultimatum like that, but I would just have to wait and see what happened. Hopefully I wouldn't be alone stepping onto that train tomorrow.

I walked slowly back to my hostel and thought constantly about how bad I screwed up. She would never come now. I decided to make the best of things and hopped onto the internet at my hostel and looked up some things to do in Paris, making small notes on some paper I found on the desk. I should definitely go to the Eiffel Tower, because I would never hear the end of it if I went to Paris and didn't see it. Alice alone would scream at me for hours. I should see the Arc de Triomphe and maybe I would have to drag myself to the Louvre, because today at the National Gallery hadn't actually sucked as much as I had anticipated. I made all my notes and sat down on the couch in the common room to watch a little TV. Considering it was almost ten on a Monday night, the hostel was surprisingly empty. I gave up after a particularly bad episode of some weird britcom and headed to bed.

The next morning, I dragged my tired body into the communal shower and had a very hot and fast shower. When I was finally dressed, it was almost nine, so I grabbed a muffin and a coffee at a local café and headed straight to St. Pancras International Station, where the train would be leaving from in almost two hours. I hoped on the subway to Kings Cross Station which led directly into St. Pancras and purchased my ticket first. It was almost ten, and I was glancing around the entire station trying to find Bella. As ten thirty approached, my heart began to sink into my chest and all I could think about was her. She wasn't coming.

I went to the platform to catch the train, and it was already boarding. I sat on a bench in the middle, deciding to wait until the last possible moment before I got onto the train and headed to the land of baguettes and crepes. I suddenly wished I had ate more than a muffin this morning. I glanced down at my watch and it was a few minutes before eleven. She was definitely not coming now, seeing as she was already half an hour late. I grabbed my backpack and tossed it over my shoulder and started to get onto the train, at the nearest door to me.

"Wait," I heard the familiar yell of Bella coming up quickly behind me. She was running to catch up to me, with her large bag covering her shoulders. Her face was pretty red and she looked very tired and dishelved. I could only guess that she had been running for a while. "My alarm clock didn't go off," she sighed happily as I extended my hand to her and helped her get onto the train. I offered her the biggest smile I could, since I was officially the happiest person in the world at that moment.

"That's okay."I sighed as her fingers intertwined in mine for a moment as I pulled her up the steps behind me. "You showed up, that's all that matters."


	4. London to Brussels

**A/N: Yes, it's a two-fer day here in 'American Girl' land. There is also an explanation within the story which tells where the name for the story comes from. Enjoy!**

**BPOV**

We walked down the aisle of the train car we were in, his hand still intertwined in mine, and we tried to find a decent seat. Towards the front of the train we managed to find an empty set of four seats, with two on each side facing each other and we threw our bags in the aisle seats and sat against the windows, looking outside at the train station before facing each other.

"Sorry I was late," I said feeling slightly remorseful. I was up late the night before sending emails back and forth with Angela, asking her opinion on what I should do about Edward's proposition. She was all for it obviously, and she thought it was kismet because he came looking for me. She recommended that I just go with the flow, but to make sure I was safe if we had sex. I sent my last email telling her to get her mind out of the gutter just before one in the morning. So, when my alarm didn't go off and I realized it was already half past nine when I finally woke up, I was in a panic. I had the world's quickest and coldest shower in the bathroom and then tossed on the first outfit I could find. I didn't have a chance to look cute today. I pulled my wet hair back into a ponytail, tossed my big red backpack, which I now affectionately called 'Clifford' and sprinted from the hostel. I hadn't even eaten breakfast by the time I ran into St. Pancras Station and was looking everywhere for Edward. I bought my ticket to Paris and took the stairs to the platform two at a time. I was tired, wet and out of breath. I'm sure I looked very attractive to Edward. When I called out to him and kept running towards the train, I was pleasantly surprised to see the huge smile that filled his face at seeing me. For the first time, I felt like I made the right decision.

"It's not your fault your alarm didn't go off. Remind me to set our alarms at future destinations," he laughed as he pointed at my bag. "So, what's up with the Canadian Flag? I've been meaning to ask you since I saw it at baggage claim a few days ago."

"That is proof that my mother is clinically insane," I laughed as I fingered it reverently for a moment, realizing how much I missed her already. "She didn't want me to have an American Flag because she thinks Europeans don't like Americans. Her theory is that everyone likes Canadians, so for her it was a safety net of some sort."

"Do you even know anything about Canada?" he asked with a smirk.

"Yes. I know the capital is Toronto and they love hockey, maple syrup and there is an abundance of moose," I said with a straight face. I actually didn't know much about Canada, but I made a mental note to look up some stuff next time we were near a computer so I wouldn't look like an ass if people asked me.

"Actually, Ottawa is the capital and if I'm not mistaken, there aren't as many moose as you think there are," laughed Edward as he turned to look out the window as the train finally started moving.

"Well fine then Mr. Know It All, you can be a Canadian with me and answer all the questions we get asked, which I doubt will be any." Edward smiled at me, this adorably crooked smile, which made me immediately think that I would do anything for him, which in turn made me cringe somewhat. I pulled two granola bars out of my bag and offered him one. "Don't they call Canada, America Junior on the Simpsons? See, I know that."

"Thanks. I only had a muffin this morning in my mad dash to get here to meet you," he said happily as he grabbed the bar from me eagerly.

"Well, this is the extent of my meals for the day. I think I have some old cookies my mom made in there too, but I might just throw them out at the next stop." I replied as I ripped open the package and greedily took a bite. We sat in silence for a while and watched England pass us by and I kept a close eye on Edward. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes while listening to his iPod. It was endearing. Sometimes he would even mouth the words to the song, which was a habit I knew all too well.

When we were about an hour into our trip, I realized I should tell him something fairly important. "Edward," I said cautiously. "I don't want to go to Paris."

"Then what the hell are we doing on this train?" he asked as he cocked his eye brow and looked at me very suspiciously.

"Well, I want to go; I just thought I would go at the end before I headed back to London in August. What would you say if I said we just stay there tonight and then hop another train tomorrow to like Belgium or the Netherlands?" I asked curiously. He looked a little frustrated that we were going to Paris, when I really didn't want to yet.

"You do realize this train stops in Brussels in about twenty minutes. Why don't we just hop off and spend the day exploring Belgium?" he suggested with a smile. I nodded my head eagerly and watched as he leaned his head back again and started to sing quietly to himself.

"What are you listening to?" I asked as I patted him on the knee to get his attention.

"American Girl by Tom Petty," he said with a grin.

"I don't think I know it," I replied in frustration. I loved Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, how was it I didn't know this song. Edward handed me one of his ear buds and I leaned close to him, as I put it in my ear and listened intently. I did know the song after all, and I smiled as I mouthed the words to myself.

_Well she was an American girl, raised on promises. She couldn't help thinking that there was a little more to life, somewhere else. After all it was a great big world, with lots of places to run to. Yeah, and if she had to die trying she had one little promise she was going to keep…._

"The song reminds me of you," said Edward with another crooked smile and I immediately blushed, suddenly feeling desperate for the train to pull into the station in Brussels, Belgium.

I pulled my travel book out of my bag and tried to find exciting things to do in Brussels for the rest of the day. After all, by the time we arrived it would only be around twelve thirty in the afternoon. My first instinct when we pulled into the station was to find something to eat. So we quickly grabbed some sandwiches from a café at the train station and ate them while we walked the streets trying to determine where to go. As we were walking, we conveniently passed the hostel that I was planning to stay at, so we went in, booked our room and dropped off our luggage. It felt nice to only have to carry my small purse and camera case, rather than 'Clifford'.

"So, what museum or gallery are we heading to now?" asked Edward as we strolled back onto the street and he grabbed my camera, snapping a picture of me in front of the hostel.

"Um, well the Royal Museum of Fine Arts is a few blocks away, and they apparently have a Rene Magritte retrospective going on right now," I said, even though I wasn't really feeling up to it.

"Yes, but the Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate is only one block this way," said Edward as he pointed west down the road we were already one.

"Do you think they offer free samples?" I asked with excitement as we agreed to explore the Chocolate Museum.

"They better, otherwise this totally isn't worth it and we'll head on over to the Lace Museum," laughed Edward as he glanced back down at the map he was holding. "Maybe we can hit the Magritte exhibition after the chocolate fest," suggested Edward with his now signature smile. I just nodded my head in agreement and walked happily with him down the streets.

**EPOV**

I have no idea how I convinced her to go to a chocolate museum in the heart of Belgium, but I didn't care. I probably flashed my smile at her, which Alice said had to ability to bring any woman to their knees, and she agreed eagerly. When we finally found the building, which was a very old white building, it looked more like someone's home than a chocolate museum. We headed inside, where I paid our fees, even though Bella fought me tooth and nail on the subject. We laughed almost the entire time they taught us about the fabrication of cocoa and chocolate, even though it wasn't an overly humorous topic.

"It's just surreal to be in Belgium right now learning about chocolate," laughed Bella as we neared the end of the tour.

"Well, isn't this what we are supposed to be doing? Wandering the continent, doing and seeing things we may never get to do again?" I asked as I bent down towards one of the displays and practically drooled at all the chocolate within in it. Bella got more interested when we stopped and watched a chocolatier making pralines, and she smiled happily as he offered her a sample, which she graciously shared with me.

"He was so flirting with you," I laughed as we walked from the museum when we were finished.

"Who?" she asked sounding very surprised.

"The guy making the chocolate at the end. He didn't even offer me a sample, you did." I said, trying to show her what she clearly couldn't see. "I hope this doesn't continue the rest of the trip otherwise my jealous side might get out."

"You're jealous because he gave me a praline?" laughed Bella as she stopped dead in her tracks and waited for my reaction. Of course, my first thought was _'hell yeah I'm jealous. You're fucking hot, and all mine for the next two months'._ But I couldn't say that.

"Yes. I don't want you to be getting all free shit when we go places. That's not exactly fair." Good save Cullen.

"And what about when the ladies we meet start offering you free samples or their phone numbers?" asked Bella as she put her hands on her hips. "Am I allowed to get jealous?"

"You can get whatever you want Bella," I said with a laugh, before I grabbed her hand and pulled her down the street. "There's only so much daylight left, let's go find Magritte."

After a quick twenty minute walk, we finally stumbled across the Museum of Fine Arts, where I sneakily paid for our tickets again before dragging her into the exhibit.

"Don't we have to pay?" she asked in frustration as we started down the first hallway. "I'm not in the mood to be arrested in Brussels."

"Oh calm down. I sweet talked the cashier and she let us in for free," I lied with a laugh. Bella looked at me with even more anger in her eyes. "I paid for the tickets. Relax."

As we walked contentedly through the galleries, Bella explained various things to me about the paintings, drawings or sculptures she found most interesting. She was particularly fond of a grouping of paintings which were made up of small little dots and the technique was called 'pointillism'. I laughed at her because up close, it looked like dots. When Bella gently pushed me away from the large painting, you could finally make out the scene.

"It's like one of those crazy pictures where you have to stare at it for hours to see a moose or a boat or whatever," I laughed as I watched Bella roll her eyes. The sculptures held my interest more, but it was probably because most of the females were naked, and the moment I saw a bronze cast breast, I immediately looked at Bella's. Thank god she never caught me; otherwise I would be a very lonely guy in Belgium.

We finally left almost two hours later, once Bella had spent a considerable amount of time exploring the Rene Magritte exhibit. I thought his work was actually interesting, probably because it was kind of weird. "Wanna do dinner?" I asked curiously as we walked out of the museum and it was starting to get dark.

"Only if I can pay for it," she said with a smug grin. I nodded my head and relented. I didn't like the idea of her paying for anything when I had so much money at my disposal. So, I determined that I would just have to be sneaky and pay for things when she wasn't paying attention, which was often, because I often caught her staring at the people on the streets or the architecture of the buildings. It was adorable.

We ended up in what I assumed to be Belgium's' only McDonalds. I couldn't bring myself to argue with her as she ordered her Big Mac meal, biggie sized with a root beer, because I found it even cuter than when she stopped to look at columns on certain buildings. I had to laugh even more because there was a Pizza Hut across the street and I figured she would probably want to go there tomorrow for lunch.

"So, what's on the agenda for tomorrow?" I asked curiously as she took a sip of her drink and I threw a French fry in my mouth.

"Well, since we only booked the hostel for one night, I think we should head over to Amsterdam for a few days," she suggested. "What do you think?" Of course I wanted to go to Amsterdam. They were famous for their cannabis coffee shops and the red-light district. Then again, Bella probably didn't want to go to either of those places. I might just need to sneak out at night when she was asleep.

"Yeah, sounds perfect," I said as I took a big bite of my burger and smiled back at her happily. As we walked back to our hostel a little while later, I was tempted to reach down and hold her hand. I know I had promised her that this would be strictly platonic, but even when I agreed to it I knew I was lying through my teeth. Suddenly, her soft voice broke me from my train of thought.

"Just so you know I'm going to be dragging you to the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House for sure. I'm not really sure what else to do, so we'll just decide as we go along. Maybe they have a chocolate museum where I can get free samples at," she laughed as she glared me. She still didn't think that guy had been flirting with her, which shocked me because she was a stunning girl.

When we finally got back to our hostel, it was just after eight. We checked into our room and we both laughed because it was a set of bunk beds. "I call the bottom bunk" yelled Bella as she threw her bag onto the bed easily. I just nodded my head in agreement, because I didn't really have much choice. We wandered back down to the lobby where Bella and I hopped onto neighboring computers. She was busy sending emails to her family back in the states, while I checked out the legal drinking age in Amsterdam and plotted how I would get Bella to come out with me at night and let loose a bit.

As I glanced over at her, I noticed a few stray hairs fall down into her line of sight, so I pushed them back gently behind her ear. "Thanks," she said sweetly as she went back to her typing. I was screwed. She was the most adorable creature I had ever encountered and I started to wonder what I would do without her in two months.

I hopped onto my email account and sent Alice a quick email to let her know I was still alive and get her advice. If anyone could help me, it would be my baby sister.

**A/N: I hope everyone enjoys the new story and doesn't get too mad that they don't go to Paris. I think it's one of the most romantic cities in the world, and since they are still on a friendly basis, I didn't want them heading there just yet. We have to get through the flirting and fun before we can bring on the romance.**


	5. Brussels to Amsterdam

**A/N: So I thought of breaking this into two shorter chapters, but decided against it. I would probably end up with like 75 chapters if I did that. Anyways, I got into a groove thanks to Justin Timberlake (you'll see why later) and this is what came out. Things are definitely starting to get a little more flirty and will continue as such for a few more chapters.**

**Amigirl – you keep giving me such excellent reviews, and I will keep giving you shout outs! My box went sailing in the greek islands a few years ago, and I promise to try to work it in somehow.**

**grtchn – you're kind of close with your assumptions, but not quite. I like how your mind works though! Thanks for the review. I always worry that I'm not quiet smutty enough. I might get more daring in the future. Who knows! **

**Bella POV**

I watched as Edward actually sent an email to someone in the outside world. I figured there had to be someone he wanted to talk to, but he hadn't really mentioned it during the past few days. After I sent my email to Angela, I searched the train schedule to see when the earliest train to Amsterdam was. It left at eight in the morning and luckily only took two and a half hours.

"Are you almost done?" asked Edward as he peered over at my screen to see what I was doing.

"Yeah, but you can go to our room if you're done," I remarked casually. I didn't expect him to want to stay while I did all the tedious work of planning our trip.

"Nah, I'll wait. We can pick out our next hostel together," he said as he noticed that I now switched to a new website for various hostels in Amsterdam. "We should totally pick the houseboat one."

"Seriously?" I asked as I cocked my eye brow in confusion. He didn't seem like the houseboat kind of person.

"Why not? It's near the center of the city, they have internet and there's only room for four people. I should just book the whole thing for us. How cool would it be to live on a houseboat in Amsterdam for a few days?" I had to agree with him, it would be pretty cool, so I just nodded my head in agreement and scooted my chair away from the computer so that he could try and book it for us "Sweet, it's available, and dirt cheap too."

It didn't take Edward too long to book the entire houseboat for us, and as soon as he was done, we headed back up to our room. He graciously stepped out to the bathroom to get changed while I changed in our room. It still felt weird to me to be traveling through Europe with him. It felt even weirder when he wandered back into the room about ten minutes later in a pair of flannel pajama pants and no shirt. I pulled the covers up on the bed and tried not to look. I even pretended to already be asleep, but I peeked one eye open and caught a quick glimpse. He was even more gorgeous without his shirt on. I felt like grabbing my laundry and cleaning it on his washboard abs. I shook my head to try to get the image out of my mind and rolled over, trying to go to bed. Edward set our alarm for six in the morning, not trusting my abilities with clocks anymore and climbed up to his bed.

"Good Night Bella," I heard him whisper softly, but since I was pretending to be asleep, I had to ignore him.

The next morning I was up before the alarm clock even had a chance to go off because my thoughts of Edward had kept me awake for most of the night. I hurried off to the shower before he even woke up and got dressed quickly in a pair of shorts and a slightly snug Care Bears t-shirt which Angela gave me for my birthday last year as a joke. I woke Edward up just before the alarm rang and he ran off to the bathroom a little too quickly for my liking. He didn't even acknowledge me, but I didn't care at that moment. Once he was gone, I headed downstairs to the computers to see if I had gotten an email back from Angela. Hallelujah, I had.

The night before, while Edward was emailing someone, I sent Angela an email telling her I had taken her advice and was traveling with Edward. I told her all about our trip from London to Brussels and then what we did during the day. I also mentioned at length how cute he was and how he made a comment about being jealous, that I took differently than what he said he meant. He told me he was jealous that I was getting free pralines from chocolatiers, but I think he really meant that he was jealous of any guy who got close to me. In my email, I asked Angela to decode all this guy talk for me.

_Bella, _

_Good god girl, get you some. Just Joking. But good move on the traveling companion. I think you should take a picture of him and email it to me ASAP for my approval before things go too far. Have you told him you are going to Columbia yet? Have you guys passed notes like you used to do with Eric in study hall three years ago?_

_As for the jealousy thing, I asked Ben and he said that it sounds like Edward is just jealous in general, not jealous of the pralines, so go get you some! _

_Miss You_

_Angela._

I wrote her back a quick email, which ended up being a long description of his abs and hit send. Thank god I had Angela to keep me sane. I ran back up to our room and found Edward already dressed and packing his bag. I threw my last items in my bag, packed my purse with my iPod and camera and we eagerly left the room. Before we left, Edward grabbed my camera and took a quick picture of the room, as I looked at him a little confused.

"You're gonna want all these memories when you're sitting in your dorm room at Northwestern missing me. And I didn't bring a camera so you better send me copies," he said with a laugh as he handed the camera back to me and led me down the hallway. We ended up taking a cab to the train station because we were running a little bit late, but surprisingly, Edward actually let me pay for it. We bought our tickets and had a quick breakfast before boarding.

The train trip was boring as hell. Sure the countryside was lovely, but I was exhausted from my lack of sleep, so I ended up pulling my bag closer to me and using as a pillow to take a little nap. Edward woke me with a small nudge to the shoulder as we pulled into the station. "Ready to go?" he asked casually as he swung his backpack onto his back and offered to help me with mine. I just nodded my head sleepily as he grabbed my hand in his and led me from the train. I made a mental note to ask him later why he was always doing that. Every time we seemed to board or depart a train, he was holding my hand sweetly in his and taking me with him.

Amsterdam was very busy for a Wednesday morning. Edward looked down at the map he had bought at the train station in Brussels and guided us towards the houseboat he had rented for the next four days. I had to pinch myself to believe that I was really spending the next four days and nights in Amsterdam with Edward. We walked peacefully and enjoyed the warm weather when Edward stopped and pointed to a cute little boat docked near a small bridge. I glanced at him and offered up a big smile, because I knew this was definitely one of those once in a lifetime experiences I had hoped to find in Europe. He reached into my bag and took a quick photo of the boat before offering it back to me.

"Wait," I said nervously. The moment he turned around, I clicked a quick picture of him, reminding myself to download it later and send it to Angela. When I stared down at my camera to see the picture I had just taken, I was surprised to see he looked just as hot in photos as he did in real life. I could only imagine all the things Angela would be telling me once she saw the photo.

I followed close behind Edward as he wandered over to the boat and introduced himself. The gentleman, Herold, was very polite and showed us where everything was and where we would be sleeping. I felt an instant surge of relief when I noticed there were four beds. Edward paid him generously and Herold gave me an odd look, before we headed down below the boat and put away our bags.

"Let's go, there are places to be seen and weed to be smoked," he laughed as he grabbed my hand again and led me from the boat. The area where the houseboat was docked was actually surrounded by tons of stuff for us to do. "What do you want to do first?" I honestly had no idea.

"How about we do something you want to do today and we can find something I like either tomorrow or the day after. We are in Amsterdam for four days right?" I asked, feeling slightly curious as to what he would want to do. "If I wasn't here, what would you do?"

I watched carefully as a light went off in his head. "Well, if you weren't here I would probably go get high at one of those lovely little cannabis cafes and then maybe head over to the red light district," he said with a slight laugh. "However, I will modify those plans for us. Do you have your passport on you?" I nodded reluctantly and held a tight grip on his hand as we wandered through the streets. It was only noon and I had no idea what he had in mind.

"Why do I need my passport?" I asked nervously.

"Cause your eighteen and you can drink here. I'm not gonna get you high or take you to some skeezy sex clubs, so we're gonna drink. Then tonight, after dinner, we're going to get dressed up we're going to some bars, I think we deserve a night out." Okay, I could handle the drinking. I came from a small town, the only thing we did was drink or smoke weed, but I was never a big fan of the latter. We wandered into a small pub and each ordered a Heineken, and some lunch. I was fricking starving.

"So how dressed up do I need to be to go out?" I asked curiously after we had finished lunch and I was nursing my second beer.

"Did you bring anything resembling a dress?"

"Not really. Did you bring anything resembling a suit?" I asked with a smirk.

"Of course not, but I have a few nice pairs of jeans and shirts I can wear out. You didn't bring anything?"

"I brought jeans, t-shirts, pajamas, swimwear, bras, panties, shorts, a sweater… you know the regular stuff," I said in frustration. All of a sudden, I was overcome with the fear that he was going to drag me out shopping, one of my least favorite things in the world, and I was right. He paid our bill and grabbed my hand, dragging me out onto the street. He looked around the road we were on and saw no where we could buy anything even remotely dressy, but if I wanted a sweet ass tie-dyed shirt with Bob Marley on it, I was set.

He stopped a gentleman on the street corner and asked him where he could buy something for me; he even motioned up and down with his hands. I suddenly felt like Julia Roberts in 'Pretty Woman', except for the whore thing. He paid close attention to what the man said and then grabbed my hand again, dragging me down two more blocks until we came across a small open air mall with stores like H&M, Zara and Mexx.

"Go get something," he said as he sat on a bench in the middle of the mall. I lowered my head in defeat and wandered into Zara to find something suitable. The saleswoman was actually very helpful and almost instantly put together for an outfit for me with a short skirt, tank top and a cute little blazer. Her English was mediocre at best, but when we were done, I looked very pretty. Definitely good for a club, and she agreed. I paid for everything and wandered back into the mall where Edward was still waiting.

"That was fast," he said with a huge smile. The closer I got to him, the more familiar he smelt.

"Did you smoke up without me?" I asked with my hands on my hips in frustration.

**Edward POV**

I was flabbergasted that Bella was mad that I had gone into one of the local smoke shops while she picked out an outfit. Did she honestly expect me to wait an hour while she played dress up?

"Sorry," I said as I shrugged my shoulders. "I didn't think you'd want to join."

"Edward, I come from a tiny town in Washington. All we did was drink or smoke up. Cut me some slack," she said as she pulled me up from the bench and we walked down the streets and back to our houseboat. It was almost five when we stepped back onto the boat. She wasn't nearly as drunk as I hoped she would be, and I was definitely as high as I anticipated because I suddenly felt very hungry. Ooh, there's a mini bar. I quickly opened it and chowed down on two bags of some sort of disgusting Dutch candy.

"When do you want to leave for our dinner date?" I asked while I lounged in the main common area and Bella was down in the lower cabin, pulling all the tags off her new outfit.

"We're going on a date?" she yelled up curiously.

"You know what I mean Bella," I stammered slightly, not realizing I had called it a date out loud, even though I had been doing it in my head all day.

"Why don't we just get dressed and leave when we're ready?" she said as she climbed up the few little steps to the common room. "You look like you're ready to eat the country of out their entire supply of Doritos, so we should get some food into you." I headed down to the sleeping quarters and pulled some clothes out of my backpack and quickly got dressed. Everything was wrinkled, but I didn't care. When I walked back up to the main room, Bella stepped down and started to get changed. When she came back up the steps, she looked really cute. A short black and white skirt, with a white tank top and a cute white blazer. The folks at Zara did her good. I grabbed her hand and pulled her with me from the boat. I had seen a few little restaurants and bars during our walk a few hours earlier, and I took her to the nicest one I had seen.

"I'm paying, don't bitch," I said as we wandered inside the restaurant and I asked to be seated on the patio overlooking the water. The waitress was eyeing me up suspiciously, but I ignored her completely, my attention completely focused on Bella. We ordered more beer and some quick dinners, when suddenly Bella leaned back in her chair and looked all serious.

"Why do you always hold my hand when we get on and off the trains? In fact, today you've been doing it more than usual." She looked a little bit angry, so I thought honesty was the best policy.

"I do it so I can make sure you stay with me. I thought if I didn't grab it, you might not get on the train and I'd never see you again," I said, feeling like a complete idiot. When I looked up at her, she had a surprisingly sweet expression on her face.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said fiercely. I just nodded my head in agreement and tried to relax by taking a big gulp of my beer.

The rest of dinner was very casual. We finished just after nine and decided to head out to the first bar we found. We didn't want to end up too far away from our houseboat, just in case we got completely wasted and had no idea where we were. We ended up at some club called Java and I immediately grabbed Bella's hand again as we walked inside. I saw her look down at our hands, and I just shrugged my shoulders."Do you want to go home with someone else?" I asked suggestively. She shook her head in disagreement. "Then stay with me."

The bar was already pretty busy and we headed straight to the bar. I ordered beers for me and Bella, and then she ordered two shots. She slid it along the bar over to me and I took it eagerly, watching intently as she swallowed hers. It wasn't meant to be erotic, but it was anyways. We ended up finding a small booth in the back of the club and people watched for the first hour, as the liquor made its way through our systems. We were making fun of various people on the dance floor and enjoying ourselves when our waitress brought us another round of drinks. I was shocked because Bella was keeping pace with me, and that was almost as attractive as when she took her shots.

It was only a few minutes later when a familiar song started to pulse through the speakers and Bella grabbed my hand. "I want to dance now," she said with a sexy drunken smile. The song was 'Summer Love' by Justin Timberlake. Thanks to Alice's musical preferences, I knew almost every word to the song. Bella led me onto the overcrowded floor and grabbed my hips in her hands, pushing herself onto me seductively. She had skills, I was definitely impressed. I was so impressed, I often forgot to dance and just let her grind all over me.

I listened closely to the lyrics as I pulled her close to me. I knew every single word and I wanted to whisper them in her ear, but I held back. I could completely imagine her bolting on me if I sang '_I can't wait to fall in love with you. You can't wait to fall in love with me. This just can't be summer love, you'll see. This just can't be summer love._' I didn't pull back from the dancing, if anything, I suddenly became a little more aggressive. Bella followed suit quickly and before I knew it my hand was cupping her firm ass while her leg was hitched onto my hip. It took all my will power not to force my raging hard on into her. It brought back a memory from earlier in the morning when I woke up with morning wood in our hostel in Brussels and I practically ran to the bathroom to spare me the embarrassment.

Bella suddenly lowered herself from me and I watched closely as she pulled off her little jacket and tossed it back into our booth. She grabbed my waist and pulled me back into her. _I loved drunken dancing Bella_. The dancing continued for a few more hours, but every time something even remotely slow came on, Bella went back to our table and downed another drink. By midnight she had me beat by almost four drinks and I desperately wanted to slow dance with her. It was frustrating. I decided to throw caution to the wind and when the next slow dance came on, I held her to me on the dance floor, not letting her go fetch her drink.

"I hope you don't mind?" I asked, feeling slightly self conscious for forcing her to stay with me.

"No, its fine," she said with a big smile on her face. I was suddenly surprised though because she laid her head down on my shoulder and pulled me closer to her. _I loved drunken slow dancing Bella even more now._ Unfortunately for me, the song wasn't very long and they replaced it with another fast electronic one. She decided not to stay on the dance floor though. Instead, she leaned up to my ear and whispered 'I think we should go back to our boat now." I couldn't agree with her more. She stumbled to our table and grabbed her purse and jacket and I went to the bar to pay the tab. When I turned around, there was some guy standing beside her, talking to her. I practically sprinted over to her and grabbed her by the waist.

"Are you ready to go baby?" I asked as I kissed her neck tentatively, hoping this guy would get the hint that she wasn't available. Well, technically she was available, but no one needed to know that. You'd think he would know she wasn't available by the way she was grinding up on _my _junk all night. She shot me a curious glance and went with it, thankfully.

"Yeah sexy, let's go." I grabbed her hand tightly and we walked out into the warm evening air. "That was fun. You should plan what we get to do tomorrow" I just nodded my head in agreement and wrapped my arm around her waist, helping her balance as she walked down the streets back towards the boat. When we finally got there, she was stumbling a bit more than I remembered and made her wait so that I could carry her down the stairs and into the sleeping cabin. I was so glad that I booked the entire thing for us because Bella would wake the dead with all the noise she was making. I headed up the stairs to the common room to wait while she got changed. I tossed my pajama pants on quickly and finally realized after about ten minutes of staring at the lights reflecting on the water that she was taking way too long.

I climbed down the stairs quietly and found her passed out on the bed, still fully dressed. I pulled her shoes from her feet and slid her jacket off, leaving her in the rest of her clothes. She even looked beautiful passed out, so I grabbed her camera and took a quick picture. This was definitely going on my wall when I move into my dorm, I thought to myself. I pulled the light blanket up over her body and crawled into my bed, only a few feet from her. I lay on my side and watched her sleep for a few moments, wondering why the hell she had to be going to Northwestern in the fall. Chicago sucked.


	6. Amsterdam

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for the awesome reviews on the last chappie. I promise that sweet romantic Edward isn't going anywhere, in fact he makes another appearance in this chapter, but spoiled rich kid Edward is always there in the back of his mind. Btw… if any of you ever go to Amsterdam, you really can stay at a hostel boat called 'the beagle' in the center of town. I am trying to make this as realistic as possible.**

**BPOV**

I had such a raging headache and when I rolled over slowly and almost fell off the small bed. That definitely would not have helped my situation. I glanced down at the alarm clock and it was almost nine in the morning. Edward hadn't set the alarm because we weren't in a rush to be anywhere today, and I was really grateful for that. I sat up slowly, getting slightly dizzy and rushed to get a bottle of water from the mini-bar in the main cabin. I sat on one of the couches and watched all the people and tourists walk through the streets near our little boat. If I wasn't feeling like shit, this would have been a great morning. I fished some Tylenol out of my bag and popped them quickly, waiting patiently for the throbbing to go away. I was tempted to have a shower, but since Edward was still sound asleep and the bathroom was near his bed, I decided to wait until he was awake. I opted instead to check my email and see if I heard anything back from Angela. Of course she had responded. My last email was all about Edwards' chest.

_Pictures Bella… now!_

_So where are you now? Are you enjoying it? Did he kiss you? What sights have you seen?_

_Angela_

Short and to the point. Got to love that about Angela. I took the memory card out of my camera and quickly plugged it into the outlet on the front of the computer, attaching the photo I took of Edward in front of our boat to my email. I tried to keep my email short, but after I described the outfit I had purchased and all the drinking, I realized it was longer than intended. I said a quick goodbye and hit send. Hoping that I would get a chance to check my email again today to see what Angela thought of him. A small smile crossed my lips because I knew she would find him just as cute as I did. I also sent my mom a quick email letting her know I was in Amsterdam and safe and that I would call her on Sunday.

"Morning Drunky O'Toole," said Edward as he slowly climbed the steps up to the main cabin. I just nodded my head in acknowledgment and took a big sip of my water. "How are you feeling?" he asked with a smirk.

"Apparently a lot worse than you," I said feeling slightly remorseful for all the drinking that took place the night before.

"Yeah well, you practically passed out the moment we got back onto the boat, and you had about five drinks more than I did."

"What are we going to do today?" I asked curiously. "If I'm not mistaken, I think I gave you permission to plan today's events."

"Actually, I want to plan tomorrow. While I was waiting for you to get changed last night, not realizing you had already passed out, I found something I wanted to do but it's not until tomorrow night. Are you cool with that?" Edward asked sweetly as he raised his eye brow, anticipating my answer.

"Yeah, that's fine. Once I shower we can head out to a few museums today. I think too much excitement today might just break me," I laughed with a quick smile. Edward headed out to fetch us some breakfast while I got into the small shower and started to instantly feel better.

The rest of the day was remarkably relaxed and quiet. We ate breakfast in peace and after Edward was showered the dressed, we headed to the Van Gogh museum, followed by the Rembrandt House Museum. Edward kept recommending we visit the sex or hemp museums, but I told him he could do so whenever he wanted to but I wasn't going with him. Needless to say, he didn't go because he wouldn't leave my side.

"You know, if I was ever on Jeopardy and the category was Rembrandt, I would definitely kick ass," said Edward as we wandered through the Rembrandt House Museum.

"You'd never get on Jeopardy babe; you have to know about more than just Rembrandt, sexual positions and weed." I said with a laugh. Edward just rolled his eyes at me and we kept going. Our next stop was the Anne Frank House, which neither of us wanted to spend much time at because it was just too depressing, so we took a photo, did the tour and headed to our last stop, the Rijksmuseum. Edward grabbed a headset so that he could listen to the information on the paintings, which I thought was kind of cute. He actually wanted to learn and not just listen to me babble incoherently about art. We checked out their section called 'masterpieces' and I spent a long time with the Rembrandts and Vermeers, while Edward wandered away to keep in time with his headset.

When I found him almost half an hour later, he was sitting on a bench near the beginning of the exhibit chatting up some spectacular looking blonde. I wasn't nearly as bold as him when it came to the jealousy game, so I simply walked over and asked if he was ready to go. Apparently he was relieved to see me based on the look he gave me when I spoke.

"Yeah, let's go babe," he said with his patented smile as he stood from the bench and grabbed my hand.

"Bye Edward," said the sultry foreign voice of the blonde uber-babe. We returned his headset at the main desk and wandered out into the now dark warm night.

"Are you hungry?" he asked curiously. I just nodded my head and pulled my hand from his as we walked down the street. I kept thinking about the blonde who had been chatting him up and I couldn't help it as the odd feeling of jealousy suddenly swept over me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, why would you think something was wrong?" I asked as I tried to reconcile my feelings of jealousy with the fact that I truly had no reason to be jealous at all. They were only talking.

"Okay, if you insist," said Edward with a forced smile. "Wanna head to Pizza Hut for dinner? We can get something to go and head back to the boat? I was sitting out there last night watching the lights on the water and it was really cool."

"Sure, sounds good." I said as we walked down the street towards the small Pizza Hut that was located near our boat. I had been pretty adventurous in trying new food on our trip, but sometimes, I just needed some good old fashioned comfort food. We grabbed our dinner and spent the rest of the evening on the boat chatting about the city and what we had liked so far, while we ate. Edward was partial to the bar the night before, primarily because he said I was all over him like white on rice. I blushed furiously because I knew it had to be true even if I didn't remember it that well. Every time I drank, Angela had to tell me horror stories of my aggressive dancing. I usually just laughed it off, but now I just felt embarrassed. Edward didn't seem to mind though because he had a gigantic smile on his face as he told me what happened.

"So, what are we doing tomorrow?" I asked curiously as I lay on the couch, directly across from him. We had gotten changed into our pajamas to get more comfortable, and Edward opted to wear a t-shirt this time.

"We're doing culture, Edward Cullen style," he said happily.

"We're getting high and going to that sex museum aren't we?" I said half jokingly. "or the vodka museum where they offer up free samples?"

"Definitely not the vodka museum. The guys there will probably offer you entire bottles while they pretended I don't exist. No, I'm serious. You taught me about Art today so tomorrow I will teach you about music." Edward was practically beaming with excitement as he told me this. I just smiled and tried to think of the things we would be doing. It was almost midnight when we agreed to go to bed, but not before checking our email online. As expected, Angela emailed me back.

_Bella,_

_I am so sorry I am missing this trip. Edward is fucking hot. Seriously, jump his bones. Is that too obvious? Since he's both cute and clearly crushing on you, I have no idea why you are holding back. Hell, I'd probably dump Ben in a heartbeat if I had Edward chasing me around Europe. Lucky bitch. Send more photos, preferably without clothes._

_Love Ya,_

_Angela_

I was staring at my screen giggling at Angela's request for naked photos when Edward peered over at me to see what I was doing.

"Stupid email forwards," I said with a grin. I sent her a quick email back telling her about the museums and that Edward was going to teach me about music the next day and quickly hit send. I didn't even answer her request for naked photos, but the thought still made me laugh. I stretched my arms up and yawned. "I'm heading to bed," I said as I turned off my computer and headed down to the bedroom cabin.

"I'll be down in a minute, I have to finish this email to my sister," said Edward as I nodded at him casually. I was so tired that I fell asleep on top of the covers, and it was only a little while later that I felt Edward lift me up slightly to cover me up. He was officially the sweetest guy ever.

**EPOV**

I was thankful to finally get an email back from Alice after I sent her one in Brussels explaining my dilemma.

_You've never had a problem getting the girl before, why is it such a problem this time? If this Bella girl is being such a challenge, why don't you come home? I know Jessica has been asking about you all month at the club. Jasper is ready to kick her in the baby maker if she asks one more time about when you are coming back._

_If you really want the girl, just go with some old fashioned wooing. No girl can resist romance. Not the flowers and candy kinda romance, but the 'I actually put a lot of thought into planning us a nice date' kind. She'll probably appreciate it more than daisies. I know I would._

_Glad to hear you're still alive. I'll let the parentals know. Don't do anything I wouldn't do._

_-Ali_

Okay, so Alice's email was a monumental waste of time. I had already decided to try to wooing thing after the way she was acting at the club, which was the only reason I changed my day of planned events to Friday. I shut off the computer feeling very frustrated with my sister, and didn't even respond back to her. I pulled the covers over Bella, because once again, she fell asleep on top of the bed and I climbed into my bed, anticipating the events of tomorrow.

Once we were dressed and had eaten a decent breakfast, I dragged Bella around the city until we found the central library. When we walked inside, I immediately heard the soft music and asked the security guard where we would find it. He pointed towards the left and I grabbed Bella's hand and led her towards the melodies. We stopped as we entered a big room, filled with chairs and a piano up at the front where a young guy, probably no more than twelve, was playing the piano like he was fricking Mozart. Bella turned her head to me and smiled brightly as I dragged her towards a seat at the back.

"I thought this was a library?" she whispered to me quietly as I tried to pay attention to both her and the music.

"It is. I found out they let kids do recitals here on Friday afternoons, so here we are." She blushed and I immediately found it endearing. We sat in silence for the longest time, just listening to them play their soft and beautiful music. There weren't a lot of people in the room, but everyone was in awe of them. When they were all done, I walked up to the front and politely asked if I could use the piano for a few minutes. The woman who ran the performance simply nodded her head and I practically sprinted to the bench and sat down, making Bella sit beside me. I started out with chopsticks because it had been a while since I had played, unfortunately. But eventually started playing some of the more difficult pieces I knew. I didn't watch Bella at all while I played, but I felt her beside me, so at least she didn't run away. I was trying hard to impress her, but I probably didn't need to. I finished off about fifteen minutes later with one of the pieces I had composed myself that got me accepted into NYU.

"That was awesome," said Bella happily when I finished.

"Sorry for dragging you. It had been so long since I had played, I needed to get my rhythm back," I joked with a small smile. She had a huge grin plastered on her face and it made me like her even more because she liked my music.

"If you ever feel the need to play again, just let me know and we'll go. I loved listening to you play." I just nodded my head in agreement and decided that in each city I would try to find the chance to play again. Then I could technically say that I had played all over Europe. "So how are you going to dazzle me now?" I glanced down at my watch and it was already four in the afternoon.

"I'm not. We have to head back to the boat and pick up something, and then we're going to a park." I said sincerely. Bella shot me another one of her confused glances, but I just grabbed her hand and led her from the library. She fished her camera out of her purse and took a quick picture of the library before we turned and headed back to the boat. I grabbed the blanket that Herold had been generous to leave for us, as per my request and an additional twenty dollar tip. We grabbed some sandwiches and snacks from a local café and made our way to the park on foot. It was dusk by the time we got there, but we didn't have a problem finding a decent spot on the grass where I laid the blanket out.

"We're having a picnic?" asked Bella with a big smile on her face. Apparently she had never had a picnic before.

"Sorta." I said with a sly grin. We sat down comfortably on the blanket and started eating almost immediately, both of us both starving since we didn't have lunch. Suddenly, there was a loud noise at the front of the stage and I turned Bella towards it as the orchestra walked out and took their seats.

"We're having a picnic and watching an orchestra in a park?" she said sounding completely shocked. She suddenly smiled a very big and genuine smile. It was absolutely adorable. I knew Alice would be impressed by my wooing techniques, and reminded myself to email her about them another time.

"Is that okay?" I asked politely, even though I knew she was already excited. She grabbed her camera and took a quick picture of the park and all the people sitting on the grass, as well as the orchestra on the stage. Suddenly, she reached her camera out to the people beside us and asked them if they would be willing to take a picture of us together. They didn't speak any English, but luckily they were able to understand all her hand gestures, because a moment later, Bella was sitting right beside me, my arm around her shoulder and we had our first picture taken together. "I want a copy of that one too," I said with a smile.

We finished our sandwiches and relaxed in silence for a little while. I had leaned back on my elbows and was staring at the stars in the sky when I noticed Bella lay down on her back beside me. She looked so relaxed and comfortable in her tight shorts and small tank top. It was a super humid night, and as I watched Bella, I praised the weather gods for the good fortune they had bestowed upon me.

"I wonder if they have these little concerts in other cities," asked Bella curiously as she rolled onto her side to face me.

"They have them in New York during the spring and summer. Too bad you're going to Chicago," I said sounding very bitter, even though I had no reason to be. She had gotten into Northwestern before we even knew the other existed. She might not have even applied to any colleges in New York, although I knew Columbia had a great art history program. Chicago probably had some sort of summer concerts, but I didn't feel the need to tell her that.

"I might have to visit New York one summer then," she said with a slight snicker.

"If you came to New York, would you look me up?" I asked curiously. I knew that if I ever made it to Chicago, I would definitely try to find her. I might even hire a private investigator first so I knew exactly where to find her. Okay, so that was borderline stalking, but she didn't need to know that.

"I guess that depends. What if I don't go to New York until I'm like fifty and I'm married with teenagers? Would you still want to see me?" she asked nervously. She was biting her bottom lip in a way that I had never noticed before, and my thoughts immediately turned to kissing her.

"Is your marriage solid or rocky?" I asked with a sly grin. "Do you have teenage daughters?"

"Let's say my marriage is rocky and I have two sons." I thought about it for a moment and nodded my head.

"Of course I would want to see you. I'd probably have moves in thirty years that I don't have now and you would find me irresistible." I said with a laugh and slight inflection of confidence. Bella just rolled her eyes and lay back down the blanket, enjoying the music and the stars. A little while later I glanced down at my watch and noticed it was almost ten. The concert was supposed to end soon, and I hadn't even tried to make a move on her, like I had thought about all day.

As I looked down at Bella with her closed eyes and big smile, I decided to just do it. No time like the present, I told myself. So, I turned onto my side and put one hand on the opposite side of her body, hovering over her. She didn't move. Perhaps I had been so stealthy in my movements, that she hadn't heard me. I bent my head forward and placed a small kiss on her lips, as her eyes shot open in surprise. Even more surprising though was that she didn't pull away from me. When I went in for another one, her hand reached up to the back of my head and pulled me down closer to her. Her lips gently grazed mine for a moment and I felt her tongue run along my bottom lip, so I swiftly opened my mouth, eager to taste her. When our tongues met, I sucked on hers for a moment, pulling it into my mouth. I used my free hand to softly caress her rosy cheek as she plunged her tongue forcefully my mouth. As I noticed our breathing get harder, and my sexual frustration growing, I pulled away.

"What's wrong?" asked Bella breathlessly as she sat up and looked at me with a slightly sad expression.

"Did you want that?" I asked politely, staring at her with longing and trying to read her expression, with no luck. Suddenly she nodded her head in agreement and I leaned in again, this time for a soft sweet peck on the lips. "But what happens in seven weeks when we head back home, alone?"

Bella pulled her knees up to her chest and laid her arms down across them, then rested her head on her forearms. "I don't know," she admitted honestly, even though I was hoping for a little more insight. "Why don't we just see what happens? In seven weeks you could hate my guts," she said with a grin.

"Highly doubtful Bella," I remarked seriously. If I felt as seriously for her as I did when I kissed her just moment ago, we were in big trouble.


	7. Amsterdam to Hamburg to Copenhagen

**A/N: Yes, it's a two-fer day. I got into a rhythm and couldn't help myself, plus I want to get them into Denmark to move their relationship along. It probably won't move as quickly as some of you would like, but alas, there are dozens of countries and 7 weeks left to explore, and for those of you reading 'follow through' there should be an update up later tonight / early tomorrow morning.**

**Seren1ty47 – never fear about updates. As all my other readers can attest too, I am a very quick updater. **

**Special thanks to lovebugkiss, grtchn, raven-rach and scorpio11 for their kind words. They just make me want to type faster.**

**BPOV**

Saturday was our last full day in Amsterdam and Edward and I both quickly realized we were running out of clothes, so our first mission was to find a Laundromat and get everything cleaned. With the help of Herold, we found one about three blocks away and once we had everything in the washing machines, we sat down and tried to decide where to go next.

"What about Berlin?" suggested Edward as he sat down in the seat beside me, sitting sideways, and reached for my hand. He began softly running his fingers along mine and I almost lost my train of though. "We can visit what's left of the Berlin Wall and some of their museums. I hear they have some awesome palaces we can explore."

"What about Hamburg? I want to get to Denmark soon, and Hamburg is sort of a stop along the way. We can always head to Berlin next week," I said with a smile, still slightly distracted by his ministrations on my hand.

"That sounds good. Plus we have less time to sit on the train right?" I nodded my head. "Good cause the train is the most boring part."

"You do realize that pretty soon we'll probably have to spend a day or two just traveling right? Especially from like Hungary to Greece, that's a long train ride."

"Yeah but we won't be heading that way for a few more weeks, so maybe it will be more interesting then," he said as he stroked my hand again. I could see a light go off in his mind as he said those words. He was hoping that we would be considerably closer and past the kissing stage by then. I just shook my head to clear the image from my mind and closed my eyes, praying that our laundry would finish soon. Edward ran out and grabbed us a quick lunch and came back just as I was shoving all of our clothes into a few of the dryers. We ate our lunch quietly and discussed our mutual love of music while we folded our laundry, although Edward had infinitely more to say on the topic than I did. When we were completely done, we took our bags back to the boat and hoped on the computers quickly to check out train schedules and book a hostel in Hamburg.

"How long do you want to stay in Hamburg?" asked Edward as he pulled up a site about the local hostels.

"How about just one night? The first train leaves at like nine in the morning and it's not a long trip, so we can probably spend like twelve hours in the city. What do you think?" I hated that it seemed like I was making the most of the decisions about where we went and how long we stayed. Edward kept insisting that it was fine, but I felt awkward. This was his trip too, not just mine.

"One night sounds good. I'd rather get to Denmark anyways," he said, finally offering up an opinion regarding our travel. I smiled back at him and wrote down our train info into my notebook before checking my email account. Yet another quick email from Angela.

_Where are the naked pictures?_

She didn't even bother to sign her name this time and I practically choked when I saw Edward reading my screen.

"I wouldn't mind some naked pictures. Are they of you?" he said with a sexy voice and a sly grin. Suddenly his complete attitude changed. "Is someone looking for naked pictures of you? Should I be worried?" I rolled my eyes and patted him supportively on the shoulder.

"Relax. It's an email from my friend Angela back home. I sent her a few pictures of our trip earlier in the week and now she thinks your cute and wants naked pictures of you," I said nervously, and feeling like a complete idiot.

"Tell her I'll only send them if she sends some first," he said with a wink. I punched him in the shoulder a little too hard because his hand went instantly to the spot I hit him and started rubbing. "Thanks Laila Ali."

"Sorry, but there will be no naked pictures of anyone. Now can you please stop reading my email so I can respond to her," I said snidely as he turned his head back to his screen in frustration. I emailed Angela and asked her to stop asking for naked photos of Edward and then I started a long diatribe about the previous day with Edward, going into extensive detail about the kiss. I'm sure when she finally read my email, her head would be spinning and she would have a dozen questions. I looked beside me and Edward had logged into his email as well.

"Can I have your camera?" he asked politely. I reached into my purse on the table behind us and pulled it out, watching him intently as he slipped the memory card in and started to upload a picture to his email. "What?" he asked when he saw me watching him. "I should be allowed to send my sister a few photos. It's only fair." I just nodded my head and hit send on my email to Angela.

"So, what are we doing on our last night in Amsterdam?" I asked after I had turned off my computer and got comfortable on the couch beside Edward. I tentatively reached my hand over and started to stroke his thigh gently; looking at his expression to see if this was okay. He looked down at me with a big smile, and I knew he was fine with it. I didn't want to move too fast, but I didn't want to go backwards either. He returned to the screen and kept typing to who I assumed was his sister.

"Sex shop?" he said with a chuckle. I removed my hand from his thigh and glared at him. "Okay, bad idea. Now put your hand back and let me think. We could have dinner and take a boat ride along some of the canals." That was actually a good suggestion.

"You'd think that since we've been sleeping on a boat for a few days, it might have actually moved. The boat ride sounds good. I don't have to dress up again do I?" I asked as I continued my soft stroking motion on his leg.

"Nah, we'll go casual." Edward finished his email and then headed downstairs to the sleeping cabin. "Let's get ready so we can go." It was only about fifteen minutes later that we were walking down the early evening streets arguing over where to go for dinner. We ended up a small café and sat in a table at the back, away from everyone. It actually felt like a date, and I was smiling from ear to ear the entire time. We chatted about our lives back home, although he didn't want to share too much information with me. I told him more about Angela and our friendship. He then explained that his little sister Alice was practically his best friend. It was really sweet the way he talked so animatedly about her. She seemed like someone I could be good friends with. Once dinner was done, Edward paid our bill and we swiftly left the restaurant heading back towards the canals to find one we could rent for a little bit.

Unfortunately, we weren't alone in the boat we rode in. It was very calm and relaxing though. Edward sat with his arm around me and I rested my head on his shoulder as he held my hand. Definitely super cute.

"We should definitely go to Venice and take boat rides on those canals," he said with a smirk. "They're a lot more romantic. I doubt I would trust this guy to sing to us in Dutch." I nodded my head lazily in agreement and leaned into his neck a bit, simply enjoying being so close to Edward. When we were done, I was exhausted, so we decided to call it a night and head back to our little boat. I was going to miss it when we headed out to Hamburg tomorrow. I grabbed my camera and took a quick picture from the deck of our boat.

"Ready for bed?" asked Edward as he stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist as we looked out over the lights reflecting all over the river.

"I'm going to miss Amsterdam," I said wistfully as I felt his head rest on my shoulder and his lips graze my neck gently.

"Me too. But we'll make good memories in every town like Hamburg, Copenhagen, Vienna, Rome, Athens… I'm sure pretty soon you'll be saying 'I'm going to miss Berlin' just like you are right now." He was right. I was going to miss every single city when we left it. I turned my camera around and took a shitty ass photo of the two of us and then climbed inside with him close at my heels to head to bed.

**EPOV**

So I didn't end up doing a single thing I had planned to do in Amsterdam when I booked my eurorail pass a few months ago, but I didn't care. I loved every second of it. It was kind of sad to step onto the train the next morning bound for Hamburg. I wasn't going to reach for Bella's hand when we got onto the train because I had finally reconciled myself to the fact that she wasn't going anywhere, but I smiled fiercely when she reached over and grabbed mine as we boarded. She was officially adorable.

The train took less than two hours to get into Hamburg, even though we had a few stops along the way. Bella was excited to get off the train and drop off our bags, so I hired a cab immediately to take us to our latest hostel. We left our bags at the front office, and quickly retreated to the streets to decide what our next step was. I had bought another map at the train station in Amsterdam and was quickly starting a collection. Bella thought it was an lovable habit of mine, and I just brushed it off. I didn't want us to get lost.

Our first stop was the Art Hall Museum, because I was on a new kick to get her into an art gallery in every single city we went to.

"That's just silly, Edward," she told me when we walked into the latest museum, as I explained my plan to her.

"No it's not. You're an art history student in two months. Think of how cool it will be to have been to all these places. You'll be the envy of all the little emo kids in your classes." She stopped bitching about it almost immediately when we came across some paintings by Edward Munch and Max Beckmann. They even had a Degas exhibit that she was interested in, but much to my dismay, they had no headphone sets for me to listen to information about the artists. Bella could sense my disappointment and tried to share as much information about them with me as possible.

When we were done at the museum, we wandered down towards the river and took a boat tour on Alster Lake. Just like in Amsterdam, we weren't the only people on the boat, but it certainly felt like it. We cuddled close and listened to the announcer talk in German and broken English about the sites that we sailed by. Bella and I laughed constantly at his mispronunciation of some of the simplest words, and it was made all the more memorable for us. We had a lovely couple from Scotland take a picture of us before the ride ended, and as per usual, I reminded Bella that I wanted copies of them all.

"Shit," said Bella in frustration when we got off the boat and started to head towards a shopping and restaurant area that had been recommended by the Scottish Couple.

"What's wrong?" I asked, suddenly feeling very concerned.

"I have to call my mom. I promised I would call her today before it got too late. Do you see any payphones around?" I helped her look for a phone booth as we continued our walk towards the restaurants. When we finally arrived at our destination, we both noticed a phone off to the left of the plaza and Bella practically sprinted to it. She pulled a calling card out of her purse and happily called her mom while I leaned against the wall, waiting for her.

"Hi mom," she said sweetly into the phone. Her mother was so loud I could hear her and I was several feet away from Bella. "Yeah, I'm doing good. Europe is awesome." They talked happily for a few moments and I couldn't help but wrap my arms around Bella and give her a sweet kiss on the neck.

"Hi mom," I whispered into her free ear.

"Nothing mom, that was nothing," she said as she glared at me angrily. How was I to know that her mom heard me? "You'll be pleased to know everything has been going very smoothly. I've seen so many museums and sites. We're leaving tomorrow for Denmark." Bella's eyes immediately lit up in frustration, she had clearly said too much.

"Whose we?" I heard her mother ask loudly with concern.

"Oh, I made a few friends who live in Boston and we're travelling together," she said, lying only slightly about me. I could handle it though. If she was uncomfortable telling her mom, who was I to judge? After all, I hadn't even called my parents yet and I had been away for eight days. I doubt they were worried though. Alice surely told them I was still alive. I nibbled gently on Bella's free ear while she finished her conversation with her mom.

"Okay mom, Thanks. I'll call next Sunday too. Say hi to dad for me," and then she hung up the phone and looked at me with disappointment in her eyes. "No more distracting me when I talk to my mom. She'll start to think I have asthma from my heavy breathing."I nodded my head in agreement and reminded myself to try the ear nibbling thing when she wasn't on the phone. We walked hand in hand to a nearby restaurant and enjoyed yet another peaceful meal. When we were done, we decided we just wanted to relax so we headed back to our hostel and watched some crazy Dutch TV show, which we put on mute and made up the words to ourselves.

It was just before ten when we grabbed our bags and headed up to our room. We were sharing for the first time on our trip, and there were four single beds. Our two roommates were two slightly older guys who looked like had just gotten out of college and were travelling before finding jobs in the real world. After Bella and I got changed in the bathrooms, I found her waiting for me in the hallway outside of our room.

"Are you okay?" I asked with a hint of concern.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" she asked tentatively as she nervously grabbed my hand. My face lit up for a moment, and then it fell again because I knew she didn't mean what I hoped she meant. She was just uncomfortable sharing a room.

"Sure babe. Whatever Bella wants, Bella gets," I said with a smile as I squeezed her hand and we went into our room. Our suitemates were already lying in bed when we wandered back in, so we put our bags on Bella's bed, which was directly across from mine and we climbed into my bed. I slid my hand under her waist and pulled her to me so that we could both fit on the bed comfortably. I nestled my head into her neck and kissed her gently on the cheek.

"I wouldn't mind sleeping like this for the rest of the trip," I joked as she elbowed me in the rib gently and we fell asleep quickly.

We woke early the next morning, thanks to the loud noises of our departing suitemates. Our train to Copenhagen didn't leave until one in the afternoon, so Bella and I took our time getting showered and dressed. She hopped onto the internet and booked us a room for the next three nights.

"They only have rooms with double beds, or a shared room. I hope you don't mind that I booked the double," she said nervously when she came back into our room carrying some coffees and muffins. Of course I didn't mind. Hell if I had been booking the room, I might have found us an expensive suite with a Jacuzzi tub and king sized bed.

"No, that's fine. I slept pretty well next to you last anyways. I doubt I'll complain for the next few nights," I said with a wink as I grabbed a blueberry muffin from her and took a quick bite.

It was only about twenty minutes later that we were strolling hand in hand down the streets of Hamburg, back to the train station to head onto our next destination. When we finally boarded, I realized I hadn't let go of Bella's hand since we left the hostel almost an hour earlier. When found a set of seats together, I lifted up the arm rest and sat with my back against the window. Bella sat between my legs comfortably and I intertwined both of her hands in mine almost immediately.

"Onto Denmark," I said happily as the train started moving a few moments later.


	8. Copenhagen

**A/N: One of my longest chapters thus far, I hope you will all enjoy because it has a little bit of everything. Some traveling, flirting, kissing, emails, jealousy, a slice of lemon and turkey sandwiches. No, turkey sandwiches are not slang for anything, just sandwiches. Be forewarned though that I'm planning a lot of the serious romance in Prague & Vienna (swoon) and there are still a few chapters till then. Enjoy regardless and review your little hearts out. It makes me want to get my words and ideas out faster.**

**Lysvia – thanks for the long review. Welcome back? I'm not sure if you are online again permanently or not but I am glad you like the USA.**

**Amigirl – I seriously hope you weren't late for anything important!**

**Bella POV**

For once, the train ride to our new destination was actually enjoyable. We were both well rested and were able to watch the scenery as it passed by us. The train was even loaded onto a boat at one point so that it could cross part of the Baltic Sea into Demark. Edward spent most of the trip asking me stupid questions about my life as he played with my hair, sometimes even getting as bold as to grab my breast tenderly when he thought no one was looking. Of course, I didn't care, I was enjoying every single thing he did and said. Based on how I was sitting, I was often adjusting myself specifically so I could rub up against Edwards' cock. It was a fun game we had going on until it was time to get off the train, both of us starting to feel sexually frustrated.

It was just after noon when we walked into the lobby of the hostel and signed in. They usually had a strict three o'clock check in time, but they said it had been a little slow and there were rooms already available. We headed up to our rooms, dropped off our bags and checked out Edward's newest map, trying to determine where we should go.

"Ooh, look they have beaches. We should go swimming," I said happily as I thought of Edward drooling over me in my sexy white bikini.

"Let's do that tomorrow. Then we can spend all day there, even have lunch and whatnot. Plus, Henrik at the desk said it was supposed to be hotter tomorrow," replied Edward as he scanned the map, pinpointing where our hostel was. "We are here, so why don't we go check out that little mermaid statue thing and hit one of the museums nearby?"I nodded in agreement as I grabbed my camera, purse and my guy and we headed down onto the streets, taking our time walking to the famous little mermaid statue that apparently was the biggest tourist attraction in Copenhagen.

When we finally came upon it almost an hour later, Edward insisted on taking several pictures, including a few of me. I just blushed profusely until he was done and we stared happily at the statue, admiring its beauty. "No wonder everyone likes this thing, it's nice," said Edward casually. "I thought it would look more like Ariel from the 'little mermaid' but I guess we'll see that at Disneyland Paris."

"We're going to Disneyland Paris?" I asked happily, practically pulling his arm out of his socket as I tugged on him. I had never been to either of the Disney parks in the States, so this would be cool. Edward just smiled at me and kissed my forehead, taking a few more photos of the harbor before we decided to head back to one of the galleries we had passed. It was the National Gallery and much to our surprise, it was free to enter. Edward was even more pleased because they offered headsets to listen along to information about the paintings. He smiled happily as he grabbed a set, sliding them over his ears and followed me into one of the exhibits. I was actually impressed by their collections. They had some awesome works by Munch, Rembrandt and even a couple of really nice Matisse, which we hadn't seen at a lot of the galleries we had gone to.

As I stood enjoying one of the paintings of nude figures, Edward wandered up behind me and smirked at the painting. "Naked ladies, nice," he said with a grin. I rolled my eyes at his immaturity and we wandered onto the next exhibit. It was almost four hours later when we finally wandered out to the front of the building and Edward stopped us to take a picture, this time of me standing in front of the Gallery.

We ended up getting back to the hostel just before ten and we were both exhausted. We had settled on a quick dinner after we left the Gallery and wandered the streets for a few more hours just talking and flirting unabashedly. When we were finally in the room, Edward closed the door and pushed me against it gently, kissing my lips firmly. My hand found the back of his head and pulled him closer into me, our tongues plunging into each other's mouths and sucking gently. As my hands scratched down his back, he moaned loudly and pulled away, leaving me wanting more.

"Sorry," he muttered remorsefully as he grabbed his pajamas from his bag and headed down the hall to the bathroom to get changed. What the hell had just happened? I changed quickly and brushed my teeth at the little sink in our room. Then I climbed into our bed in frustration, and waited for him to come back. He took longer than normal and when he entered the room, he turned off the light and locked the door.

"Did you have a shower? " I asked tentatively as he climbed in beside me and pulled me close to him.

"Yeah, I felt like shit," he said as he kissed my forehead and tried to fall asleep. I wasn't going to let our incident ten minutes earlier torment me for the rest of the night.

"Why did you pull away?" I asked as I sat up a bit in the bed and looked at him. Edward sighed and pulled himself up so that he was sitting beside me.

"I don't want to move too fast," he said anxiously as he bent his head down in guilt. He was sexy and he was mine, but sometimes he was stupid.

"Don't you think I would have pulled away if we were doing something I didn't want to do?"

"Well, yeah. I just didn't want you to think I was forcing myself on you or something because after all the flirting on our walk, all I could think about was your lips, and kissing you again and again and again." I looked up his expression, and he still looked sad. I climbed onto his lap and forced my lips onto his, tugging on his bottom lip seductively as I dragged my tongue along it. I pulled back just when he started to get into it, and this time, he was disappointed.

"We have less than seven weeks together. Don't go turning into some emotional mess. If it feels good, we're gonna do it. At least I know I am," I said as I ground myself into his hardness and then licked his neck. He groaned and I lifted myself from him, sliding back into the bed beside him. He curled up behind me, spooning me against him and all I could feel was his hard cock on my ass. It made sleep almost unbearable because all I thought about was jumping back onto him and having his cock buried inside me. He slept just as restlessly as me that night. Welcome to Copenhagen, the sexually confused Capital of Denmark. I should get that on a bumper sticker.

When I got up the next morning, Edward was still soundly asleep, so I decided not to disturb him. I headed down to the common room and hopped on the computer, eager for an email from Angela.

_Bella,_

_Haven't heard from you in a few days and I trust you are behaving yourself. Sorry Edward caught your email where I asked for naked pictures, but I still want them. At least shirtless photos, and no, he can't have any of me. Life here is still boring as usual, so you better tell me about all the cool things you are doing. Let me know when you get to Vienna, I have suggestions for you._

_Miss You_

_Angela_

I smiled happily at her email as I wrote back about the most recent incident with Edward. I'm sure she would have plenty to say about how we were moving forward, but I found I was surprisingly eager to hear it. I attached a few more photos to the email and hit send. I emailed my mother quickly and sent her a few generic photos, none of which I or Edward was in. I wasn't ready to deal with my mom knowing who I was traveling with, so she got a lovely picture of the little mermaid statue and the outside of the National Gallery.

"You shouldn't sneak out," said Edward as he quietly snuck up behind me, making me jump in my seat.

"Well you shouldn't sneak up on people," I retorted angrily. He kissed my forehead and all was forgiven. We headed back upstairs together to get showered and ready to go to the beach. He took a lot longer in the bathroom than I did, so when he came back into the room, I was already dressed and ready to go. I had packed a small bag to take to the beach with my iPod, two towels, a bottle of sun block and a book.

"We're not going to the beach," said Edward as he ran his towel through his messy wet hair in an attempt to dry it. He was already in his swim trunks and he looked adorable. They had a blue Hawaiian print and went to his knees. Very cute, I thought to myself for a moment before I was awoken from my thoughts.

"Why not?" I said disappointed. "It's sunny and hot, not a cloud in the sky and I'm all ready to go."

"You look absolutely indecent," he said with a sly grin as he stared intently at me. Apparently my white bikini and barely there cut off jean shorts had the desired effect on him, because he fidgeted slightly and I instantly knew he was getting aroused. I sauntered over to him, putting my hands on his shoulder and whispered into his ear.

"Indecent is nothing compared to what I want to do to you at that beach," I said confidently as I bit his ear lobe and walked away, grabbing my small bag, camera and purse. "I'll go without you."

"No you won't. Just wait a second," said Edward in frustration as he put his iPod, a map of Copenhagen and his wallet in my bag. He tossed on a t-shirt and grabbed my hand, eager to get out of the room and onto the beach. "So, what are we doing at the beach today?" he asked with a grin as we were walking down the street, with Edward's arm draped around my shoulder casually.

"That's for me to know and you to find out," I said as I ran ahead of him teasingly and he quickly followed. Today was definitely going to be a good day.

**Edward POV**

When I finally got back into our room, I knew Bella was pissed I had taken so long in the shower. I didn't want to tell her that I had actually ran back downstairs to check if I had an email from Alice, so I just acted like nothing had happened. Thankfully the sneaking around was worth it because Alice had in fact emailed me.

_She's cute. Don't get her pregnant. Mom and Dad say hi, well not really, but they are pleased you are doing more than smoking pot and paying for sex in Amsterdam. I didn't tell them anything, they saw your credit card statement._

_So, is she your girlfriend or what? _

I wrote Alice back a quick email about the current situation between Bella and I and the moment I was done, I turned off the computer and ran up to the shower. When I got out, I was completely floored to see Bella in our room completely ready to go to the beach. Her sorry excuse for a bikini got me hard immediately and I suddenly didn't want to go to the beach at all. She convinced me otherwise when she told me '_Indecent is nothing compared to what I want to do to you at that beach'_ I had no idea what she had planned, but bring on the beach.

When we finally got to the one we wanted to be at, it was surprisingly empty. Henrik at the hostel told me yesterday that it always seemed to get busy in the mid afternoon and since it was only eleven on a Tuesday morning; it made sense that I was quiet. We laid our towels out on the warm sand and before I could even get comfortable, Bella was all over me.

"Take your shirt off," she said forcefully as she propped herself up on her knees beside me. I did as I was told and was kind of hoping she would start kissing me or something, but instead she started to rub sun block all over my chest and arms. "That was a bit of a letdown."

"Oh relax. We'll both be a pain in the ass to travel with if we get sunburnt, so let's just get this over with okay?" she asked as she motioned for me to roll over and she started applying the lotion to my legs and my back. When she was working on my shoulders and back though, it definitely felt more like a massage than her applying sun screen. I shook my head and tried to focus. When she was done, she handed me the bottle and lay on her back. "Can you please do me?"

"Hell yeah," I said with a laugh as I leaned forward and starting kissing her and running my hand down her leg. At this point I didn't care who saw us. Bella pushed me back and laughed happily.

"Oh my god, you are such a horn dog. I meant can you please put lotion on me. You really don't want me to turn into a bitter lobster. Then you'll never get any," she chuckled and handed me the lotion again. She was right, yet again. So I squirted some lotion onto my hands and rubbed them together, thoroughly excited at the prospect of rubbing lotion all over her tender skin. I started up near her shoulders and was as gentle as I could be, while still trying to make sure she was completely covered. It was incredibly hard to focus on what I was doing, especially as my hands got closer to her breasts.

I looked down and Bella's eyes were closed, she was enjoying this almost as much as I was. I peeked around us slowly and thankfully most people seemed to be either swimming or not paying attention, so I took my hands and slid them under the tiny fabric of her bikini top, massaging her firm supple breasts. I watched as Bella peeked with one eye to see what I was doing, but she didn't swat my hand away. It was a small victory for me, but it made things infinitely worse, because all I wanted to do was get one of her nipples into my mouth and make her moan. I pulled my hands away and rocked back on my knees in an effort to compose myself.

"Are you okay?" I heard Bella ask a few moments later. "You're not even close to being done." I nodded my head and put my lotion on my hands, this time focusing on her arms and her legs. They were definitely safer than the breasts. Once I had her stomach covered, she rolled over and let me work on her back. Which, thankfully for me was slightly less erotic, but not by much. When I had finished, Bella rolled back over to her front, propped herself onto her elbows and stared at me intently. "What do you want to do?"

Well that was a leading question if I ever heard one. I want to take you back to our room and make love to you, shower you in kisses and licks. I want to pull your shorts and bottoms off right now and pleasure you on the beach. I want to drag you into that water and… "Uh, I don't know. Why don't we just relax for a bit? Listen to our music, maybe read. I can go get us some lunch soon." I watched as she nodded her head and leaned back against the blanket. I grabbed my iPod from her bag and tossed the earbuds in, listening to the last song that had played, Tom Petty. I smiled happily and glanced down at Bella. She had arched her hips from the towel and was seductively pulling her sorry excuse for shorts off. I couldn't handle it anymore. "What do you want for lunch? I think I should go now."

I watched remorsefully as her face fell and her expression turned sad. I wasn't wavering though. She was teasing the hell out of me and if I didn't leave for even a few minutes, I'd be done for, and then arrested for doing very lewd things on a public beach. I didn't have my rich family here to protect me if I got thrown in jail. "Just a turkey sandwich and some chips, you know what I like," she said as she licked her lips and I jumped from the towel, practically running towards the little cafes on the other side of the road from the beach.

When I came back almost fifteen minutes later, I was finally relaxed again, and I had gotten Bella exactly what she had wanted, plus a Coke. As I walked closer to where I had left her, I saw that she was not alone. Some lanky looking pale guy was sitting on _my towel_ talking to her, and she laughed at him happily. I stopped dead in my tracks and tried to reassure myself. _She doesn't want the crypt keeper over there, she wants you._ I suddenly felt like Stuart Smalley. _ I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and dog gonnit, people like me. Bella likes me_. I picked up my pace and kneeled down onto the beach beside Bella, offering her her lunch.

"Hey Sweetheart," I said through clenched teeth, knowing I sounded slightly over-protective as I glared daggers at the kid still sitting on my towel. I reached forward and pulled her into a deep kiss as he suddenly decided to stand up, clearly taking the hint.

"This is Leo," said Bella breathlessly as I pulled back from our kiss and she motioned with her hand upwards to where he now stood. "Leo, this is Edward."

"Her boyfriend," I said possessively as I extended my hand out to his. "Nice to meet you."

Leo finally caught on that he wasn't welcome and wished Bella and I luck on our travels before he walked away dejectedly. I knew that bathing suit would bring unwelcome attention. I reminded myself not to leave her side whenever she was wearing it for the rest of the trip.

"My boyfriend?" asked Bella curiously as I settled back onto my towel and handed her the Coke I had bought her.

"Yeah. I want to be your boyfriend. I don't want other guys looking at you the way I look at you," I said fiercely as I offered her a chip from my bag.

"And how do other guys look at me?"

"Well right now, they look at you like you're something to eat, and if anyone is getting that pleasure, it's going to be me," I said confidently as I kissed her cheek. I watched as Bella blushed several shades of red and turned back towards her lunch, devouring it in silence.

Once we had finished, we decided to just lie out in the sun and relax. Bella had rolled over onto her stomach and was listening to her music, but I was propped up on my elbow, watching everyone around us. I found myself getting very frustrated at all the men who would look down at her on her towel, with her ass in the air. Bella, of course, was oblivious to it all. When it finally got to be too much for me, I pulled the ear buds out of her ears and asked her to come swimming with me. She put her iPod back into her bag and eagerly took my hand as we headed into the water.

The cool of the water was very calming. After sitting in the sun for over an hour watching the people around us, it was nice to be able to focus on just us.

"So, boyfriend… what are we doing tonight?" asked Bella as she swam over to me and wrapped her legs around me. Damn her. Instantly hard again. She wrapped her arms around my neck and began kissing me gently as I treaded water, trying to keep both of us afloat.

"We can go out to dinner, maybe on like a real date," I offered sweetly. Bella suddenly got a weird glint in her eye and she smiled brightly.

"Or we can stay in," she whispered as I felt her hand grasp my cock through the fabric of my swimsuit. I instantly groaned.

"Yeah, we could do that," I said with a sigh as I decided if she was going to tease me, I was going to tease her right back. I grinned at her and gave her a sweet kiss on her lips as I ran my finger over the fabric of her bikini bottoms, right above her lips. She shuddered and frowned at me.

"Oh, is this how it's going to be?" she asked as she pushed her hips against my erection, grinding herself against me and making it increasingly harder to think.

"It is, if you keep insisting on teasing me," I said with a smile as I got more daring and ran my finger along her lips again, under the fabric. She hissed at me this time, but her smile was wide, so I didn't stop. I slid my finger inside her lips and rubbed her clit softly. Bella bent her head forward and bit my shoulder. "Do you want me to stop?" I asked, suddenly concerned that I was pushing us too far too fast.

"No," she moaned quietly, as she reached her hand down and rubbed my cock smoothly. I pulled her hand away in slight frustration. It had felt good, but if I wanted to continue pleasing her, she needed to stop.

"You need to keep your hands around my neck or on my shoulders, or it won't work," I instructed with a grin. I found that Bella was more than happy to agree to my request because her hands were almost instantly around my neck, holding on tightly, and when I looked into her eyes, there was pure unadulterated lust. I ran my finger back inside of her folds, rubbing her clit harder with each movement.

To the eyes of the people on the shore, we just looked like a couple who was floating together in the water, but to me, I was pleasuring the girl I lusted after and she loved it just as much as I did. When Bella suddenly bent her head forward and bit my neck, I shoved a finger inside of her, keeping my thumb on her clit. "Fuck," she whispered to me quietly so that the other swimmers couldn't hear her. "So good," she repeated as a chant for the next few moments. So I shoved another finger inside her. This time she arched her back slightly and I leaned forward to kiss her, as the water lapped against our hot skin.

Bella's fingers found my back and started digging softly against the top as she kept herself wrapped around me. She was so warm, I kept envisioning myself inside of her and that wasn't helping the already hard situation in my pants. As Bella's panting picked up, I quickened my movements and curled my fingers into her slightly.

"Fuck Edward," she said, slightly louder now. We got a strange look from a small group of kids about thirty feet away from us, so I swam Bella out further into the water. She was on the verge of coming when I finally stopped us and I continued my movements, faster and harder. She bit down on my shoulder and I thrust my fingers into her one more time, and her entire body tensed around me, as she pulled her arms from around me and grabbed my face in her hands, kissing me passionately.

"We're definitely staying in tonight."


	9. Copenhagen Part 2

**A/N: Another slice of lemony goodness for all my fans who enjoyed last chapters' beach fun. As I mentioned in the most recent chapter for 'Follow Through' I will be out of commission for part of the weekend thanks to a girls weekend with my stepdaughter and her best friend. It will involve almost everything twilight related, but what do you expect with 15 year olds? I will update as much as possible, but don't get pissed if you don't see anything till Sunday.**

**I'm glad everyone likes Jealous Edward. He might think he's going away, but he isn't! More happy times to come. Enjoy, and please review. They are like crack to me. No seriously, they are like crack, or cookies.**

**Bella POV**

The rest of the afternoon at the beach was fairly uneventful. Jealous Edward had made an appearance earlier in the day when some pimply faced kid named Leo had come over to talk to me for a total of two minutes. Jealous Edward was my least favorite, and I knew if this was going to go anywhere, I was going to have to squash that shit as soon as possible. After our fun in the water, his jealousy seemed to completely disappear and my sweet and sarcastic guy was back. When we were lying on the beach, he had decided to draw little circles on my stomach with his fingers and it was surprisingly erotic. He would also rub my arms and legs and was constantly sliding loose hairs behind my ears. It was his little caresses and touched that made me impatient to get back to our room.

"Ready to go?" asked Edward as I glanced at his watch and saw that it was almost five. I nodded my head in agreement and we packed our stuff away in the small bag we had brought with us. On our way back to the hostel, we stopped and picked up a quick dinner to eat back in our room. From the look of lust and frustration on Edward's face, I didn't think he would let me out of the room, so eating in was really our only choice.

"It's starting to rain," I said casually to Edward after I had setup our pasta dinner on the small coffee table in our room and took a moment to stare out the window.

"Talk about perfect timing. We've been inside a total of two minutes and it's now raining. Am I good or what?" asked Edward confidently.

"Relax; it's not like your Al Fucking Roker. You had no idea it would rain. Now sit down before your food gets cold," I answered sarcastically as I sat on the floor in front of the table, waiting for him to join me. Our room had a small TV so we ended up watching 'the Flintstones' in Danish while we ate because it was the only thing on.

It was almost two hours later when Edward and I were laying on the bed, talking about his spoiled friends back in Massachusetts when the power suddenly went out.

"The whole street is out," said Edward as he looked outside and a bright flash of lightning lit up the room. Unfortunately, without the lightning, the room was pitch black. "Stay here and I'll go see if Henrik has some candles." He hopped effortlessly from the bed but took his time walking to the door, making sure he didn't trip on anything. He returned almost fifteen minutes later with a small arsenal of supplies.

"Welcome Back," I said eagerly, even though I still couldn't see him.

"Henrik says this happens all the time and we shouldn't expect the power to be back on until the morning," said Edward as he laid everything onto the coffee table and immediately lit the largest candle and brought it over to me. "This would be romantic, if it didn't suck."

"How does this suck?" I asked curiously as he placed the candle on the bedside table next to me. "I actually have an idea to keep us occupied."

"Oh really?" His interest was suddenly piqued. "Does it involve me getting to have sex with you?"

"No," I said with a laugh. "Do you still want to play?" As I expected, Edward was on the bed beside me within seconds. "Okay, so I know it's already dark, but I want you to close your eyes. We have one minute to do something to the other person and then we switch. No matter what that person is doing, you cannot stop them or help them in any way. Shut your eyes and I'll show you."

Edward anxiously closed his eyes and I crawled behind him and softly massaged his shoulders, clearly reliving some of this tension. Once I had finished, I went back to my seat and caught a glimpse of his big smile.

"My turn," he said as I tentatively closed my eyes, not quite sure what he had planned, but then again, that was the point of the game. I tightened my eyes so they were securely closed as I felt Edward grab my left hand and start running his fingers along my palm and then he began stroking my fingers.

"Time's up," I said sweetly as I pulled my hand away reluctantly and opened my eyes. Edward closed his immediately, awaiting my next move. Unfortunately I hadn't really planned in advance, so I did the first thing that came to mind, I kissed his soft lips while I counted to sixty. I felt his lips smile beneath mine just as I had to pull away.

As I closed my eyes this time, I felt him move his body so that he was closer to mine. I felt his warm breath on my neck and suddenly he was sucking my neck, very hard, into his mouth. There were even a few bites and I had to catch my breath for a moment when he was done. I ran my fingers over the area, knowing full well there would be a mark there in the morning. I was about to glare at him, but I remembered he could barely see me, so what would be the point.

"Now everyone knows your mine," he said with a laugh. "If it's not dark enough tomorrow I might need to work on it a bit more."

"You're an idiot," I said with a groan. "I'm yours, for at least six and a half more weeks. No matter how many guys approach me, I'm yours. Okay, so stop being so jealous. Do I need to start singing some Jason Mraz so you'll get the hint? I'm yours Edward."

"It's hard not to Bella. You're gorgeous, and if I wasn't with you, I'd be acting and thinking the same way all the other guys are. I promise to try and tone it down though, okay?" he asked sweetly.

"Alright then. It's my turn now, so close your eyes again." He did as he was told and I tried to think of something to do which was a little bolder so I straddled him and nibbled on his ear for a minute. He was apparently a big fan of the nibbling because he was moaning almost the entire time.

"Mmm that was nice," he said as I started to wonder what his next move would be. I was getting bolder, so I was sure he would too. I closed my eyes in anticipation and I felt his hand reach up behind my neck and pull me towards him. He kissed me, but it wasn't as chaste as the kiss I gave earlier. He forced my mouth open with his tongue and when my tongue reached out for his, he started sucking on it forcefully. I suddenly wished that the time limit was ten minutes, not one. He pushed away before I could remind him that the time was up.

"You're getting good at this," I said with a snicker. I was initially going to kiss him again, but I decided to do something else, so I peeled his shirt off and started kissing down his chest till I was practically at his waist, and then kissed back up to his neck. I heard a low groan escape his lips as I pulled away, and I thought excitedly about my next move.

My eyes weren't even completely closed when I felt his hands on my breasts. He started by running his hands tenderly around them, and then he began massaging them firmly, even getting as daring as to run his fingers over my hard nipples. I moaned from his touch and he pulled away. Part of me wanted to grab his hands and force them back, but I couldn't do it. I wanted to move to the next step in my plan, so when he closed his eyes, I pulled off my shirt, leaving me in my lacy and revealing black bra. Of course he wouldn't know what I had done for at least another minute.

I gathered up my courage and grabbed his ankles, spreading his legs and moving him from his cross-legged position.

"I hope that isn't what you are doing with your one minute Bella," said Edward in frustration as he gamely kept his eyes closed.

"No, it's preparation for what I am doing. Just relax," I said as I moved between his legs and started counting to sixty as I began to rub his cock through the fabric of his shorts.

"Jesus, Bella," he called out the moment he felt my hand on him. His breathing slowed for a moment as I felt him harden even more from my touch. I was feeling very disappointed when my minute was up and I immediately sat back from him and closed my eyes. "Are you trying to kill me?" he asked after I heard him gasp slightly. I guess he finally realized I was missing my shirt.

"Is that a bad thing?" I asked seductively as I waited for him to make the next move. I thought he might do to me, what I had just done to him, but I was sorely mistaken.

**Edward POV**

She had taken off her top. _Holy Shit, she had taken off her top._ I gasped at the site of her in just her bra, and I shouldn't have. After all, it was only a few hours ago that I had my fingers buried inside of her, but it just seemed so different all of a sudden.

"No, it's not a bad thing at all. Death by hard on sounds very appealing right now," I said with a laugh. Bella's eyes were still closed and I was wondering what I should do next. I wondered if her removing her shirt was an invitation for me to have more access to her breasts, so I jumped at the chance. I didn't pull her bra off though, instead I leaned forward, slid the fabric down till it was cupping her and I began sucking on her nipple. She whispered something incoherently as her hands found my hair and she began tugging lightly. I was thoroughly disappointed when my minute was up and I had to pull away. I would attack the other breast in a moment, I told myself in my head. I never got the chance.

When my minute was up, I closed my eyes and leaned back on my hands, waiting for Bella to do something else to me. I was shocked when I felt her pull my cock out of my boxers and start stroking it with her hand.

"What the fuck?" I practically yelled at her, not realizing I was doing it. It was only a second later when I felt her mouth wrap around me, and she started licking every inch of me as she bobbed her head up and down around my shaft. I wanted to wrap my hands in her hair and help her movements, but thanks to the rules of the game, I couldn't do it. I kept counting in my head, desperately hoping that one minute would turn into ten as I moaned in pleasure from the feel of her on me. When my counting hit sixty, she didn't pull away. If anything, she got more courageous and began sucking harder and pushing me deeper into her hot, wet mouth. I was in heaven. "Minutes up," I said hesitantly. I wanted her to continue because I was desperately horny after the past few days with her, but at the same time, I wanted to play the game, but she clearly wasn't letting go.

I groaned as I felt her teeth gently graze me and my breathing picked up, making it harder for me to focus. The worst part for me was that I couldn't see her very well; I couldn't make out her lips as she worked her magic on my cock, and I really wanted to. Damn blackout was the best and worst thing that had ever happened to me. As she worked her way back up my shaft, her tongue worked in circles around my tip and I grabbed onto the bed for support, before she plunged me back into her throat. Her movements came faster as I started practically panting above her. I felt myself tense up and I knew I was going to cum, but she didn't move again, even when I told her to. She held firm and when I released in her mouth, she swallowed it greedily. At that moment, I really fucking loved her.

When she finally pulled away from me, I caught a glimpse of a big smile on her face, lit up by the candle on the table. "I'd yell for taking more than a minute, but thank god you did," I said as I leaned down and kissed her, not really caring that she had just been sucking on my cock.

"Well I did owe you for this afternoon," she replied seductively. "Games over for tonight."

"Awww, and I just got some great ideas," I cried out in disappointment.

"I'm sure we can play again soon. I just have a feeling it's really late even though we have no idea what time it is," she said with a sigh as she grabbed her shirt from the bed and slid it back over her head. So much for spending time sucking on her other breast. I adjusted myself so that I was covered in my boxers again and stood up to check the time. I stretched my wrist beside the candle and saw that it was almost one in the morning.

"It's 12:50. I sincerely think that was the best few hours of my entire existence," I said as I blew out the candle and slid into bed beside her. "You are so fucking hot," I whispered into her ear as I kissed her neck and pulled her close to me, my arms wrapped around her tightly.

"You're pretty fucking hot yourself," she said with a sleepy sigh. It was only a few minutes later that she finally fell asleep, and I was quick to follow. Then again, blow jobs usually made me exhausted.

When I woke up the next morning, I looked over at the table and the alarm clock was flashing 12:00, so I was relieved the power was back on. Bella was still asleep, and I couldn't be bothered to leave her side, so I lay with her and stroked her hair gently, leaning down every so often to take a quick smell of her hair. She smelled delicious, like peaches and cream. I slid her hair out of the way so I could inspect the hickey I had tried to leave on her neck only a few hours earlier. It wasn't dark enough for my liking, but it would do for now. It was almost half an hour later when she finally woke and I glanced at my watch. It was now nine in the morning, and I wasn't eager to get our day started.

"Hey," I said softly as she rolled towards me with a grin. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah, I had really good dreams," she said with a sly grin.

"Ooh do tell," I said hopeful that they had something to do with me and our unforgettable evening together.

"Nice try. I'll think I'll save that info for another time." I was disappointed, but I could tell by the way she looked at me; they were definitely naughty dreams about me.

"So, since today is my day to plan something to do, I think we're gonna stay right here. We're not leaving the room. You're gonna tell me about the dream and we are going to pick up where we left off last night." I didn't think Bella was going to go for this suggestion, but I had to at least try.

"Umm no. It's our last full day in Copenhagen, I want to do something fun. We also need to make plans for our next stop. Do you have any ideas?" she asked curiously. Of course I had ideas. I had ideas that involved us heading to Paris and me making love to her for the next six weeks. I had ideas of convincing her to leave Northwestern to join me in New York. I had ideas of spending the rest of my life with her, but those would have to wait for another day.

"What about Sweden? I'm sure there are some cool things to do in Stockholm. And today, we could go to the Tivoli Gardens, that amusement park that Henrik recommended."

"That sounds great actually. We should get online and book our hostel and I need to check my email," said Bella with a huge smile. Unfortunately for her, I wasn't quite ready to let her go, so I leaned in and gave her a passionate kiss and a few gentle pecks on the neck, sucking on the hickey once more for good measure.

"Okay, let's get this shit done so we can come back to bed as soon as possible," I laughed with a big smile. I wasn't complaining about our recent turn of events, but I felt like I should be wearing a t-shirt that said 'Desperate for Sex: Party of One.'


	10. Copenhagen to Stockholm

**A/N: Is it wrong that I wanted to send them to Ikea while in Sweden? I didn't, but I wanted to. Anyways, here's the new chapter. Please be patient while I deal with my weekend activities and thanks to everyone for their awesome reviews. Also expect some more Alice action in the next chapter. She's a sneaky little bugger in this story.**

**BPOV**

After we each had a long shower, we headed down to the common room to check on our next destination and I was desperate to email Angela. Unfortunately, there was only one computer available, so I sat on Edward's lap as we looked up information on Stockholm.

"You think I can convince you to get into one of those Swedish maid outfits?" asked Edward with a laugh as I rolled my eyes.

"Baby, that's French Maids, not Swedish. Can I convince you to dress like the Swedish Chef from the Muppets?" I asked with a heavy laugh and Edward rolled his eyes.

"If you play your cards right Bella, you can convince me to do almost anything," he said with a stern expression on his face. He clearly wasn't joking. We had a difficult time finding a hostel in Stockholm that didn't have bunk beds or wasn't a shared room. Edward kept insisting we get a real hotel room, but that didn't feel like backpacking across Europe to me. We ended up getting a private room, with bunk beds and agreed to just ignore the top bunk. We might be uncomfortable, but we'd be together.

"Okay, go read a Danish magazine or something," I said as I jumped off of him once our room was booked. "I want to email my mom and Angela, and you can't be here for that." I watched as he started to pout, but he decided to go get us some coffee and breakfast instead. I opened up my email and I saw a few new emails. I wrote back to my mother first and told her about all the wonderful things in Denmark, and that I was heading to Sweden next. I could tell by her messages that she was happy that I was having such a good time. Angela's email was next.

_He kissed you. That is awesome, but I still want my topless photos. So, what happened after the kiss? Have you guys had sex? I bet you have totally had sex with him. He looks like he's romantic, is he? I need to live vicariously through you Bells. Ben has been so busy with work and preparing for school, I've been bored. Your emails help get me through the day._

_I'm pathetic_

_Angela_

I wrote back a very long email about yesterday, including some of the details of the beach and the blackout, but not every detail. I could easily discuss the kissing and fondling, but felt awkward telling her the more intimate details. I did confirm for her though that we weren't having sex yet. Emphasis on the yet. I could tell it was just a matter of time. I promised more photos just as Edward walked back in the lobby with two coffees and a bag of treats.

"All done?" he asked with a grin. I nodded my head as I hit the send button and logged off.

"Do you need to email anyone?" I asked as I took the coffee from him, two creams and one sugar, just how I liked it. I seriously wondered if he took notes about all this stuff for future reference.

"I should email Alice, it has been a few days after all," said Edward as he took a seat at the computer that had become free beside me. He worked on his email for several minutes as I munched away on a blueberry Danish that he had brought me.

"Do you think they call them 'Danishes' here?" I asked with a laugh. "Like how people always ask if the French call them French Fries?"

"You're weird," said Edward as he finished his email and turned towards me. "Are you ready to get going? I think we should go grab our stuff and head out to Tivoli." I nodded my head and we walked up to our room to grab my purse and camera, eagerly bouncing back down the stairs to see something else exciting in Copenhagen. "So what did Angela have to say this time? Did she ask for more naked pictures?"

"No, not yet. She did ask for at least some topless ones, so I'm gonna send her some photos from yesterday at the beach," I answered with a grin, recalling our time in the water yesterday.

"Did you tell her about … us?" he asked anxiously. I squeezed his hand for reassurance as we walked down the road towards our destination.

"She knows enough, but no details. Did you tell Alice about us?"

"She knows enough," he laughed repeating my earlier words. "She knows I consider you my girlfriend and she thinks you are pretty and asked me not to get you pregnant. She hadn't emailed me back yet when I emailed her this morning." Edward was smiling even broader now as I laughed about the pregnancy remark.

"So, I'm your girlfriend huh?" I said in a mocking tone as I leaned my head into him and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

"Get over yourself Bella. I've been referring to you as my girlfriend for days now, so it's official. We're dating, and your mine." He kissed my head and we continued our walk in comfortable silence. I loved being his girlfriend; I just wished I could get up the nerve to tell him about Columbia. The longer I waited, the more likely it was going to bite me in the ass.

Tivoli Gardens was actually pretty fun. It wasn't as exciting to me as the beach, but it was nice to just ride on roller coasters and play stupid carnival games. I was surprised because Edward was even more playful than usual, but when it came to the games, he was uber competitive. When we were ready for a little rest, we decided to go check out the aquarium on site. I think Edward liked it because it was fairly dark and empty; he was kissing or touching me at every single opportunity. I didn't complain one bit. We ended up eating an early dinner at the park before calling it a night and taking a cab back to our hostel. Our train was leaving around ten in the morning, and we were eager for a good night's sleep.

"No funny business," I said when I finally crawled into bed later that night. "We have to be up early."

"Why don't we just stay up all night? I know I'm already up," said Edward seductively as he pulled me towards him and I pulled the blankets around us.

"Ok, put that thing away," I said in frustration as I felt his hardness against my ass again. "We agreed to sleep and only sleep tonight." I heard Edward sigh in frustration but he still kissed me before he buried his head in my neck and fell asleep.

We both woke up feeling refreshed. We showered and changed quickly, grabbing our backpacks and heading out to the train station. Our train was supposed to leave at ten and we were already running behind. The trip was going to take about five hours, so we picked up a bunch of snacks and a new map at the train station before we boarded.

Just like our last train ride, this one was happier. Edward and I cuddled on the bench seats, with our bags directly across from us. We talked a bit more about our lives away from our trip and he spent a lot of time kissing my neck. The hickeys were definitely getting to be worse, but I didn't care. He could make them all over my body and I would be content. After deciding he needed a break, Edward pulled out our newest map and we looked it over for something to do.

"There are a lot of waterways and bridges in Stockholm. We should take a boat ride again. They must have some cool art galleries and the royal palace is probably cool. I bet they have just as many rooms as my parents' house," said Edward with a forced smile. We rarely talked about his parents, and I didn't mind. It made it easier to not discuss mine, because whenever we did talk about my family, it made me a little homesick. We pulled into Stockholm just before three and I was eager to unload my bag and do something, anything with Edward.

**EPOV**

Before we left the hostel, I insisted on checking my email. I hadn't heard from Alice in a little while and I was actually eager to see if she had emailed me back. I laughed when I saw the first line of her email. It was classic Alice.

_Edward has a girlfriend… Edward has a girlfriend._

_Jasper says congrats and Emmett asked and I quote 'have you hit that yet?' I don't care, so don't answer me. Mom and Dad left for L.A. for a few days, so we're having a house party tomorrow. It's a shame you're gonna miss it. I told Jessica you had a girlfriend and she totally blew a gasket. It was one of the funniest things I ever saw in my life, next to that night we drew all over Emmett in magic marker when he passed out on our pool table._

_Anyways, tell me more about Denmark, where are you going next?_

_Alice_

_P.S. I want her email address. If you don't tell me, I'll have Tyson research it for me._

I wrote back a quick five line email about how we were now in Stockholm and that Copenhagen was fine, but I didn't give her nearly as much detail as Bella probably gave Angela. I also told her to leave Tyson, the computer genius who has a big crush one her, alone. There was no way I wanted Alice to get a hold of Bella, but I knew how persistent she could be. It was probably inevitable. Unfortunately, I didn't even know it. So I told Alice this and let her know I would follow up on it for her. She would hopefully back off for a little bit.

Our first night in Stockholm was kind of boring. We went to dinner and then hit a bar for a few drinks and dancing, but neither of us was feeling up to it, so we went back to our little room and made out in our bunk bed for several hours. When we woke up, it was almost noon and we had wasted the entire morning, Bella was pissed.

"Okay, let's shower and get out of here. I want to get to at least one of the galleries. They have a bunch of works by Matisse that I want to see, and I didn't come to Stockholm to spend two days in bed with you" she said sounding a bit bitter at the fact that we got up late. She practically pushed me out the door and down the hallway to the communal bathroom, which I was really starting to hate. I wished for once we could stay at a decent hotel where we didn't have to share a shower, unless it was with each other. Bella caught me daydreaming about that very thing a few hours later in Moderna Museet, while she was admiring a work by Salvador Dali. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"What I was thinking about, I shouldn't mention in public," I whispered seductively in her ear. I really hoped she'd want to find a secluded spot in the gallery and do a repeat of last night, but she moved onto the next painting.

"Do you ever have normal thoughts?" she asked with a smirk.

"My thoughts are completely normal for a nineteen year old man traveling through Europe with his sexy girlfriend, thank you very much," I said with a quick kiss to her exposed shoulder. Sweden was having a heat wave just like Denmark had, and I was very pleased by this because Bella's clothes were getting more revealing.

"Do you ever think about anything other than sex? We never even talked about sex for like the first week we were together, how did you handle it? I didn't see you having convulsions or anything," she said with a gentle laugh as she turned away from the painting to check for my reaction and response.

"I always thought about sex with you. Even on the first day when I saw you at JFK listening to your music and ignoring the fact that we had to get on the plane. How did I handle it? I figured if I kept mentioning it, you'd call Scotland Yard and I'd never get even remotely close to you, let alone in your pants, so I kept my thoughts to myself." I was being completely honest and she knew that. She leaned up and kissed me sweetly on my lips. It was tender, and for the first time I could tell she was feeling the same way about me that I was about her. She was falling in love with me. How else would she be able to put up with all my crap?

"You'll get in my pants eventually," she said with a sly seductive grin. I was taking what I could get, and that was definitely a promise of more in the future, so I would wait as patiently as I could.

"Were you always this aggressive with your girlfriends?" she asked a little while later as we wandered into another exhibit.

"What girlfriends?" I said with a laugh. She looked at me incredulously. "What?"

"You mean to tell me that in all your nineteen years, you Edward Cullen, have never had a girlfriend?"

"Well, unless you count Missy Thomas in the third grade, then no." This was going to be a long conversation. I should have gotten her back to our room and into bed before discussing this, then I could have distracted her from the topic altogether.

"I'm honestly your first girlfriend?" asked Bella as she looked at me, still a little shocked. No time like the present I suppose, so I decided to give Bella a little more insight into me.

"Yes. I never had a girlfriend before you. I had girls, not girlfriends. No one was ever serious. Remember, I am a privileged fuck up. Until you, girls were just something fun to look at, tease or play with for a few hours. Not to keep for long periods of time or do anything substantial with. Look at this way; to me girls were like video games. I would play them when I was high or drunk, but otherwise I couldn't care less." I was trying to be honest, but I think I just came across as a total asshole.

"You were an idiot," said Bella with a grin.

"I'm your idiot right?" I said, hopeful that the newfound information about me hadn't turned her off. She stopped for a moment and kissed me again, full on tongues and everything. She definitely loves me if she can make out with me after I practically admit I'm a narcissistic man whore.

"Yeah, and I like you just the way you are." She was practically beaming when she said this, which made me think I didn't deserve her. Of course I didn't deserve her. She was way too good for me. She was smart, sweet and sexy and every other positive adjective that started with the letter 's'.

We had one more night in Stockholm and we decided to visit somewhere I wanted to go to, the music museum. Bella had a good laugh when I told her there was a section on ABBA, but I didn't care. They had a ton of instruments, some of which you could even play. When we got in, I headed straight to the pianos, desperate to get my hands on some ivory keys. She just sat beside me as I worked out some of my stress through my music. This was how I handled being a Cullen. I played piano. Today I played until they were getting ready to close down the museum. Neither of us had even realized that we had been there for almost two hours.

"You know, every time you play, it seems like you play just for me," said Bella with a sheepish grin as she grabbed my hand and we left the museum. I kissed her head gently and we headed back towards our hostel, planning to get dinner along the way.

"So, where to next?" I asked curiously after we had eaten some delicious seafood at a small café. I had thought perhaps we'd head up to Finland or over to Norway. I wasn't sure what she had in mind though.

"Berlin?" she asked tentatively.

"Germany. I love beer and lederhosen, so let's go!"


	11. Stockholm to Berlin

**A/N: You lucky readers. My family hunkered down to watch Spiderman 3, which I had already seen, so I was given a small reprieve and quickly wrote this chapter. Lemony Goodness included.**

**xxcaityxx – you will definitely find more Alice in the upcoming chapters. She just can't help but meddle in Edward's love life.**

**mokanimom – I have never been to Europe, only across parts of North America. I am good at research, because I am trying to make this as factual as possible. I hate when I read stories and the characters are going to Dartmouth, but it's in California. I think a little research goes a long way in creating a decent story.**

**Don't expect Bella to reveal her 'columbia' situation in the near future, although she will get more conflicted about it as she falls for him more. Especially in the next chapter. Enjoy the train ride!**

**BPOV**

We went back to our hostel after dinner and quickly logged on to the computers to find train and hostel information for Berlin. Edward was on hostel duty because he insisted on it. I wasn't going to complain though because he was finally getting into helping me plan the trip and I was excited about this.

"There's a night train that goes leaves at like five tomorrow night. That would be cool. It appears to be a fourteen hour trip. It looks like we get in around seven in the morning, think you can handle that?" I asked Edward curiously as I glared at his screen and noticed he wasn't even on a hostel website yet. He nodded his head absentmindedly and I kept talking to see if he was paying attention. "We can get a sleeping car with one bed and a shower too. We have to pay extra though, but at least we could have sex on a train."

There was no response. I was shocked. I was expecting excitement, anticipation, anything at all, but I got nothing. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Yeah, sex on a train. Have you checked your email yet?" asked Edward as he closed down his own email and finally opened up a website about hostels in Berlin.

"No, should I?" I asked as I finished booking our train for tomorrow night. Edward nodded his head again and tried to focus on the room situation. I anxiously logged into my email, not quite sure what I would find. After all, Edward didn't even have my email address. How did he know I had any emails at all?

"How long do you want to stay in Berlin?"asked Edward curiously. We ended up agreeing on four nights, with us leaving on a Monday to head to our next destination. Edward ended up booking a hostel that had a single room, with a queen bed for us. We were officially turned off the concept of having to share a room with anyone else; even though we knew it may be unavoidable. Sometimes it made me wish we could afford a hotel room, but I never mentioned this to Edward.

Once my email was done loading and I scanned through several email forwards from my friends, I found a curious one from Alice Cullen.

"Is this from your sister?" I asked as I raised my eye brow in curiosity. How the hell did she get my email address? "Did you give her my email address?"

"Bella, I don't even have your email address. Well I didn't until five minutes ago when I opened my email and my sister gave it to me." Edward sighed nervously and I could tell he wasn't exactly pleased at this turn of events. "My sister has a fan, or a stalker would probably be more appropriate. He's a computer whiz named Tyson and he's always doing her all sorts of favors for her, which now includes investigating you." My face turned from curious to incredulous anger. Why the hell would she be investigating me? What had Edward told her that would require her to look for me? "I apologize in advance for whatever the hell she has written to you. She wouldn't tell me what she said." I opened the email reluctantly, not quite sure what would be waiting for me.

_Hi Bella,_

_I'm Alice, Edward's younger sister. I just wanted to write to you and say 'Hi' since Edward didn't want to give me your email address. I hope you don't mind that I tracked you down. Your mom is uber awesome by the way; she's the one who ended up giving me the information._

_Please don't tell Edward this, but I wanted to write you and thank you for whatever the hell it is you two are doing. He hasn't seemed this happy in years and I'm sure it has to do with you. So thanks and I hope we can meet one day. _

_Alice Cullen_

Well that wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I breathed a sigh of relief and Edward followed suit. "What did she say?"

"Well, some of it I can't tell you, but this Tyson guy must be good. They tracked my mother down in Forks and she gave them the email address," I said with a laugh as I imagined what excuse Alice would have provided my mother for her to just offer up my email address. Suddenly panic set in. I wondered if she mentioned Edward to my mother. I ran through my unread e-mails to see if I had one from my mom. No such luck. There was another one from Angela though.

_Wow Bella, sounds like you and Edward are doing really good. That's great. I bet he's excited that your gonna be in New York in the fall. That is so cute. You met abroad and end up together in NYC. Have you told your mom yet? I ran into her at the bank earlier this week and I didn't mention anything because I wasn't sure. You should tell her. She'd be happy you found someone, then again she'd probably offer up the sex talk again, and that was completely embarrassing the first time and I didn't even have to sit through it. I still can't look at bananas since you told me what happened, or cucumbers._

_Anyways, send me a shirtless photo and be safe._

_Angela._

I grabbed my camera out of my purse and sent Angela a quick email with a picture I took of Edward and I at the beach. I hoped this would stop her from asking about topless photos because you could see most of his chest in it. This should placate her for a few days anyways. I told her that we were heading to Berlin on the night train, and that I would email her in a few days. Once I was finished, Edward and I headed back to our room to get some sleep. It was almost eleven by the time we crawled into bed and immediately fell asleep. We didn't even kiss goodnight we were both so tired.

The next morning, we left our luggage in the front office of the hostel and ended up wandering around Skansen, and open air museum and zoo, which was actually my favorite part. Once we were done, we took a cab back to our hostel, grabbed our bags and headed off to the train station, eagerly anticipating the ride to Berlin. While waiting at the train station, Edward picked up a selection of snacks and yet another map for Berlin specifically, since his last map was just of Hamburg. He also picked up a few English magazines so that we had something other than each other to keep us busy. The first few hours of the ride were pretty boring. We scanned through my camera and deleted all the photos that were blurry. That was exciting. Not. We ate a quick dinner of sandwiches that were available from the food trolley and before we knew it, it was almost eight.

Edward changed into his pajamas, apparently not really caring that I was in the room, but I did my best to avert my eyes. Unfortunately, I caught a good glimpse of his hips, specifically the deep v that forms on the hips of my perfectly sculpted boyfriend, and I actually gasped.

"What's wrong?" asked Edward as he sat down cross legged on our bed.

"Nothing, but turn around so I can get changed," I said with a sly smile. I watched as he closed his eyes and I then threw a blanket over his head so he definitely couldn't see me. I was quick to get changed, and when I pulled the blanket off of him, he grabbed my waist and pulled me down onto the bed.

"That wasn't fair. I never made you turn away," he said with a grin. "The blanket wasn't very thick by the way." I punched him lightly on the shoulder, but he pulled me in for a kiss. "So, didn't you mention sex on a train yesterday when we were booking this trip?" inquired Edward after he pulled away from our kiss and his eyes grew lustful and curious.

"I said that to try and see if you were paying attention," I laughed as his face fell slightly. I leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the lips, which quickly escalated. His hand wrapped around my head and through my hair, pulling me closer to him. My brain told me to resist him, but my body said the opposite, and this time, my body won the war. I bit down softly on his bottom lip and he opened up slightly, allowing my tongue entrance to him. Without warning, I pushed him back onto the bed, lying on top of him and kissing his neck and his chest while his hands explored my body. After almost half an hour of making out, I pulled back and straddled his waist, sitting up and looking down at him.

"You're so beautiful," said Edward as he reached a hand up to sweep some hair behind my ear that had fallen across my face. I immediately blushed.

"Flattery will get you everywhere Edward," I said with a grin as I bent forward and kissed his chest.

"Define everywhere?" he asked with a smirk as his hands gripped my ass tightly and he pulled me forward on his hips, directly over his hard cock.

"Everywhere but there," I replied with a sigh, not quite ready to take that next step with Edward. "I promise we will do it, just not on a moving train."

"Don't tell me you are one of those girls where everything has to be perfect. I bet your first time was at prom with your boyfriend of like two years," he laughed as I grinded myself down on him, teasing his cock. "If you're not going to have sex with me, don't tease me."

"No, my first time was not at prom. It was an awkward drunken encounter with one of my best guy friends back in Forks. We both just wanted to get it out of the way, so we did it. Nothing special," I replied, while Edward sat up against the wall, me still straddling his waist. His hand was now on my back, rubbing it comfortably. "How about you stud? Where was your first time?"

"Mine was with a slightly older girl in the coat room at the country club my parents always dragged us to. I was sixteen and she was eighteen, and I was not very good. She even told me so." I laughed gently at Edward, but sadly he was not laughing.

"Don't look all sad. I'm sure you are a hundred times better now than you were back then. If your dick is even remotely as good as your fingers, I won't be complaining." I kissed him again and this time he pulled back and had a huge smile on his face.

"Wanna find out?" he asked anxiously as he kissed my neck harder, clearly eager to give me another hickey.

"Clearly you have listening issues. I said not on the train. Doesn't mean I'm adverse do doing other things on the train though." I reached down between us and started to rub his dick through the fabric of his shorts and I watched him tense up for a moment and then relax.

"You know what would be totally hot," asked Edward as he pulled my hand from his excitement. "If I watched you… take care of yourself." He was now looking both anxious and excited. He was nervous about my reaction, but even though I wasn't ready for sex with him yet, didn't mean I wasn't ready for other things, so I hopped off his lap and yanked off my shirt. "Shit, that was quick."

"It won't be quick, that I can promise," I replied as I yanked my panties off and was now sitting in front of him completely naked. His eyes grew wide on his face and I had to smile. He clearly liked what he saw. "Get naked."

"What?" he asked in surprise.

"I'm not doing this alone. If you get to watch me, I want to watch you."

**EPOV**

I have died and gone to heaven. There was some sort of train accident on the way to Berlin and I was in heaven, with a naked Bella in front of me offering to play with herself, if I did the same. I looked at her nervously and then wondered to myself, _what am I waiting for?_

"Edward," she said, snapping me from my reverie for a moment. I didn't think twice and pulled my shorts off, releasing my already hard cock, and throwing them across the small room. I leaned back to make sure the door was locked. "Are you okay?" asked Bella, clearly sensing my tense facial expression.

"Yeah, I'm good. It's just hard to look and not touch." This was heaven and hell at the exact same time. I decided to just go with the flow and watched as Bella leaned back against the wall and spread her legs open for me. _Fuck Me._ I hadn't seen her, even though I had felt every inch of her pussy, inside and out, I hadn't seen it. I wished for a moment she was more extroverted, so I could take a picture, although I was certain this moment would be ingrained in my head for eternity. I bit my lip and watched as she ran her fingers along the outside of her warmth. I instantly grasped my hardness, stroking myself in time with her movements. She moved seductively, yet each movement seemed to have a purpose. The more I watched her teasing herself, the harder it was for me to keep my hands to myself. With my free hand, I gripped the bed tensely. This was pure torture.

When she slid a finger inside herself and followed it up with a slow guttural moan of my name, I was officially done. I threw myself across the bed and started kissing every inch of her, starting with her lips, but paying particular attention to her breasts. I reached my hand between us, to her wetness, but her fingers were still buried inside of her. "You are so fucking hot," I moaned into her chest as she slipped her hands free and offered me a lick of her fingers. I shoved them in my mouth greedily and slid down her body. She tasted fabulous and I wasn't going to let it go to waste I told myself as I thrust my tongue inside her. Now she was the one gripping the sheets as I licked and sucked on her clit after I had pulled out of her wetness.

"Fuck," she muttered as I grabbed her ass and pulled her closer to my mouth. I know this wasn't the mutual masturbation session she had in mind when we started, but I didn't care. I had to do more than watch her. It was the worst form of anguish ever devised. I knew it couldn't have been created by any teenage boy with a smoking hot girlfriend. I pushed my forearms against her thighs to spread her open for me a little bit more and I felt her hands grasp my hair, tugging gently.

"I want to be inside you Bella," I said as I pulled away from her for a moment, then dove back in, thrusting my fingers inside of her. She moaned again and it was making it worse for me. I had to feel her wrapped around my cock.

"Do you have a condom?" she asked breathlessly as my thumb rubbed against her clit forcefully and she bit her lip in pleasure. Shit, I didn't. Talk about bad fucking timing. I shook my head signaling that I hadn't and wondered for a moment if the woman pushing the cart with the sandwiches earlier might have something. I highly doubted they offered up dinner and protection on the train. I continued my fingering of her, desperate to see her come for me again. If we couldn't have sex, we would at least both end the night feeling somewhat sexually relieved. I curled my fingers inside of her, still plunging my fingers in her, and I bit down gently on her clit. She was close. Her eyes rolled back in her head for a moment and she grabbed my hair again, tighter this time. Then suddenly she jerked beneath me and moaned incoherent babble, from which all I understood was my name. It was officially the hottest thing I had ever seen. As she leaned back to calm her breathing, I sat up and took matters in my own hands, literally.

I was about to start stroking myself, when I suddenly felt Bella's hand grip my wrist. "I'll take care of that," she said with an eager smile as she removed my hand and starting licking up and down me. I groaned the moment I felt her tongue on me because the sensation was pure ecstasy. Before I even knew it, her hot mouth was wrapped around me and she was sucking me harder with each motion. It's official, I am transferring to Northwestern, I told myself as I watched her fuck me with her exquisite mouth.

After several minutes of her ministrations, I gripped the bed, eager to release. I tried to pull her off of me, even grabbed her ear once, signaling I was good to go, but she didn't move. In fact, I thought her lips actually tightened, so I gave up and exploded inside her mouth. I was shocked at how eagerly she swallowed me down, and I had to smile. I kissed her forehead the moment she leaned up from my lap.

"Sorry," I said with a grin, feeling a bit remorseful for not going along with her original masturbation plan. Okay, so I wasn't actually sorry, but I felt like I should be.

"I'm not complaining," said Bella as she lay down on our bed and pulled the blankets up over her still naked body. "Are you coming to bed?" she asked as she patted the mattress beside her. I did as instructed and slid behind her, spooning her soft body under the blankets of our slightly lumpy train mattress. I didn't care though, I was naked beside my girl and that was all that mattered.

"You are so fucking hot," I whispered to her as my arm snaked around her waist, pulling her close to me.

"I have a question for you. You have been trying to have sex with me for days now, why is it you don't have a condom?" asked Bella as I groaned loudly. I would forever regret not having one during this train ride, although I did hope that train sex would be a possibility before the trip was over.

"When would I have time to get one? I couldn't very well drag you into a store and pick some up. You would have probably thought I was making a bold assumption that we would have sex, and it would turn you off and there wouldn't be any sex at all." I felt relieved as I told her this. I didn't want to buy any and then she refused to have sex with me simply because I assumed we would.

"That makes sense, but can I suggest we get some soon before we are ready and still don't have any protection?" I nodded my head a little too enthusiastically and leaned down to kiss her again. We continued talking for a little while longer before she drifted off to sleep in my arms.

_I love you_, I whispered to her quietly as she slept beside me.

The next morning, we were both a little sore when we woke up. It wasn't from the sex, but rather from the rough ride of the train throughout the night. "Sleep well?" she asked as I rubbed my eyes and pulled away from her for a moment, my morning wood making an unwelcome appearance. I just nodded my head and remembered we were both naked. Part of me wanted a repeat of last night, until the voice on the public address system advised that we were ten minutes from arriving in Berlin. Bella and I threw on our clothes quickly and packed up our bags. We were all ready to go just as the train pulled into the station.

Before we walked out of the train car, I took a quick picture with Bella's camera for posterity. She grinned at me as she grabbed my hand tightly in hers and we departed the train, with fond memories. The hostel I booked was only a few blocks from the station, so we took our time walking there, even stopping to eat some breakfast because we knew we couldn't check into our room, although we could drop off our bags.

Once we had lightened our load, I pulled out my new map of Berlin and we decided to check out the Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie. They had an awesome island filled with five museums, but Bella and I agreed to wait for another day to do the museum thing. We were on our way back to the hostel, before we went out to have dinner and go dancing, when we stumbled upon a store that would surely sell condoms. I practically ran inside and bought two packages before I returned to a confused Bella on the street.

"What?" I asked with a big smile. "I'm not taking any chances next time."


	12. Berlin

**A/N: I started this last night and actually had a bit of writers block with it. Usually the stories come faster for me. Anyways, enjoy the new chappie. Thanks for all the awesome reviews on the last chapter. I hope everyone had a great weekend!**

***disclaimer – I own none of these characters, but I love writing and reading about them!**

**BPOV**

When we wandered back into the hostel a little while later, we headed upstairs to shower and get changed because Edward insisted on taking me on another date. We were going to dinner and then to a bar for some drinking and dancing. I had wanted to email Angela to tell her that I had overheard him tell me he loved me when he thought I was sleeping, but I never had a chance. It would clearly have to wait for another time and it was unnerving me. Once I had finished in the shower, I threw on my black skirt I had bought back in Copenhagen with a cute white t-shirt that said 'easily distracted by shiny objects' and I threw my little white jacket overtop because it had been a bit cool when we got back from seeing some sights in Berlin earlier in the day. I checked myself out in the mirror and was pleasantly pleased, but I also knew if we were going to keep going out on actual dates, I would probably need to purchase another outfit of some sort.

Edward came out of the bathroom, completely dressed and ready to go. He put on his shoes and he was set. I wished I had that luxury of getting ready so quickly and looking so good. I was in the process of doing my hair and makeup when he came out, and thankfully for me, he was being patient. He offered to head downstairs while I finished getting ready, and I jumped at the chance. Without him here pacing around me, I was sure to finish faster. So he went to the lounge and emailed his sister while I tried to make myself look stunning. It was about ten minutes later when I stepped down the stairs to join him.

"You look sexy," said Edward as he wrapped his arm around my waist and led me outside. We ended up heading to a small restaurant only a few blocks away, and it was very charming. They actually had a good mixture of American and German cuisine, so we both ended up having steak and salad, even though I felt bad that Edward was paying for dinner. He kept insisting that we were on another date and the guy pays, so I relented before we ended up in a full blown argument.

"When's your birthday?" Edward asked casually, attempting to make conversation, but also seeming a little shifty in his intent.

"September 13th, you?"I asked in response.

"June 20th. Alice threw me a big party a few days before I left for London," said Edward with a smile as he took a sip of the random German Beer he was drinking. I was sticking to rum and cokes for the evening, because I knew how my system handled them. I didn't need to be getting as drunk as I was last time we went dancing. "We should do something before the end of the trip to celebrate both of our birthdays. Seeing as we won't be together for yours and we didn't even meet until a few days after mine." I nodded my head in agreement and turned back to my dinner.

"Did you have something in mind?" I asked as I noticed Edward suddenly thinking very hard.

"Actually, no. I was just trying to think of something. Would you be completely adverse to exchanging gifts?" he asked with a gentle smile. He clearly wanted to buy me something, perhaps that was what he was thinking about.

"I already told you I hate when you spend money on me. However, you seem to want to insist, so how about we put a price limit on it?" I asked, hoping to placate him somewhat. It was really hard to deter Edward when he had something in mind.

"Okay, you can spend fifty dollars and I can spend five hundred," said Edward with a sly grin. He knew this would anger me.

"Um no. But the fifty dollar limit sounds good to me."

It was almost ten when we left the restaurant, both of us eager to dance and shed some of our new calories. We walked back towards our hostel and found a little club playing primarily American music, which pleased me to no end. When Edward had suggested dancing originally, I envisioned a lot of European techno music, which made me shudder in disgust. I was pretty eclectic when it came to music, but I couldn't handle techno. We grabbed a table near the back of the club and both ordered the same drinks we had at the restaurant.

"So, how many drinks do you need in you before you can dance?" asked Edward, remembering that I had explained that I don't dance unless I am somewhat inebriated.

"Usually like four or five. Depends on how strong they are. I had three at dinner, so this is the fourth. You may get me onto that dance floor sooner if a good song comes on," I said with a smile.

"What is your definition of a good song to dance to?" he asked as he scanned the DJ booth, which meant he was probably going to make a request knowing Edward. He had enjoyed himself thoroughly last time we went dancing, probably because I was practically glued to his cock the entire time; it was probably the motivating factor as to why we were out dancing again.

"I don't know. Justin Timberlake is always good," I said with a smiling, remembering we first danced to 'Summer Love'. "There's also some Britney Spears and stuff like that which I can handle. If it has a decent beat, I can probably dance to it." Edward just nodded his head and reached over the table to grab my hand.

"Just let me know when you're ready," he said with the sexiest wink I had ever seen. It was only a few minutes later when I finished my drink and Edward ordered us each a new one. I was clearly drinking more than him, yet again. While he was gone to fetch our drinks, a song came on that just called me onto the floor to dance, so I peeled my coat off and stepped off onto the dance floor. I kept an eye on our table to see when Edward came back, so I could motion for him to join me. He took a lot longer than I expected and when I looked over at the bar, he was chatting animatedly to the rather statuesque bartender. I continued dancing and join a small group of other girls around my age that were dancing together.

It was almost three songs later when Edward finally came back to our table, looking for me in a panic. Instead of dragging him onto the floor with me, I went back to our table and took a quick rest, practically downing my drink in one gulp. So this is what jealousy felt like, I told myself. Then I shook my head and remembered I had no reason at all to be jealous. Edward said he loved me. Sure, I was supposed to be unconscious at the time, but he still said it.

"Having fun?" I asked casually. Edward sat down in his chair beside me and simply nodded his head. Something was wrong.

"I gotta break the seal. I'll be back in a few," said Edward indifferently as he stood from the seat he had just moments ago sat down in and headed to the back of the bar to find the bathrooms. It only took a total of five seconds for some random guy to sit down beside me and strike up a conversation.

"You're a really good dancer," he said with a grin and a very clear American accent. I just nodded my head as he suddenly extended his hand towards me. "I'm Adam."

"Bella," I replied as I looked back towards the bathrooms for Edward. "Where are you from?"

"Atlanta, and you?" he asked curiously as he took a sip of his drink, which looked really fruity for him. He was a slightly built guy with blonde hair and blue eyes. Nothing overly attractive in my opinion, but he seemed nice enough.

"Washington, state not city," I added, seeing as most people always wanted to confirm that detail next. Even Edward had done it.

"How long are you in Berlin for?" he questioned as he started to let his eyes roam across my entire body, which made me feel slightly uncomfortable. I looked towards the back of the bar again, and still no Edward.

"Just a few more days. I'm backpacking with my boyfriend, who just stepped out to the bathroom," I answered, hoping that he would take the hint that I wasn't available and that Edward was nearby.

"That's a shame. I hope he knows he's a lucky guy," said Adam as he then got me involved in a conversation about our favorite parts of Europe. He had already explored Italy, France, Austria and now Germany. I told him about our travels and where I was hoping we would go next. It seemed like forever had passed by the time Edward ended up at our table again and I was angry. There was no way going to the bathroom would take him almost fifteen minutes. The bar wasn't that busy and guys never took as long as women in the bathrooms, so there couldn't have been a line up.

"Bella," said Edward as he stood behind me, clearly angry again based on the tone of his voice.

"Edward, this is Adam from Atlanta. Adam, this is my boyfriend Edward." Adam offered his hand politely to Edward, who didn't take it. He was pissed. "He's traveling around just like us," I added nervously.

"Well isn't that wonderful," huffed Edward as he glared furiously at Adam. Thankfully Adam was sober enough to take the hint that Edward didn't want him around.

"It was nice to meet you Bella. Enjoy Berlin," replied Adam as he grabbed his drink and stood from the table, leaving us behind. I was beyond frustrated at him now. He always got jealous whenever I was talking harmlessly to anyone. I was about to just let it go, when the alcohol coursing through my system told my mind not to.

"What's your problem? Am I not allowed to talk to anyone?" I said snidely to him, as he took a gulp of his drink. His demeanor didn't change. He still looked upset. "I didn't get mad at you for disappearing for fifteen minutes to the bathroom or taking ten minutes to get us drinks while you chatted happily with the blonde at the bar."

"Well maybe if every person you talked to wasn't eying you up like a piece of fucking meat, I wouldn't have to get upset." He was practically glaring daggers at me now, and I had done absolutely nothing to deserve his wrath. I grabbed my jacket and stood from our table. I was suddenly not in the mood to deal with his jealousy. I practically ran from the bar and hopped into the first cab I found; instructing him to head back to our hostel, where I hoped Edward wouldn't come for a while.

**EPOV**

When I went to the bar earlier that night to fetch us another round of drinks, the bartender Gwen, tried to proposition me. Of course, I was completely not interested because of Bella, and I told her so. She was surprisingly nice about the entire thing and even told me about some romantic places to take Bella while we were in Berlin. Gwen was also American and was living in Berlin for a year while she studied German. I thanked her profusely for the information and headed back to our table. Bella wasn't there and panic immediately sunk in. I put our drinks down on the table and I looked around, trying to see her, when she suddenly stepped from the dance floor and sat down, looking tired and apparently needing a rest.

"Having fun?" she asked with a slight sense of tension to her voice. I immediately thought that she had probably seen me talking to Gwen and had gotten jealous or something akin to jealousy. Bella had never really acted jealous at all during our time together. It just reminded me of another reason why I was in love with her.

"I gotta break the seal. I'll be back in a few," I said nervously as I stood back up from the table and headed towards the back of the bar. I snuck into a stall and put the toilet seat down, calming myself down for a moment. While I had been talking to Gwen at the bar, I had realized again that I was in love with Bella, and even Gwen could tell. She was extremely perceptive.

"_Have you told her that you love her yet?" asked Gwen as she fetched two beers for some drunken loud mouths at the end of the bar._

"_No. Well, sorta. I told her when she was asleep one night, but that doesn't count right?" I asked curiously. It was nice to have the opinion of a girl who wasn't my baby sister._

"_Yeah, doesn't count. Sorry. You should tell her. I'm sure if you feel that strongly for her already, she probably feels the same."_

So I sat in the bathroom of a little dirty Berlin club, trying to think of how to tell Bella I was in love with her. Before I realized it, I actually did have to go to the bathroom. When I was finished, I wandered back to our table, and was caught by surprise that Bella wasn't alone. It seemed to be a pattern that whenever I left her alone for more than two minutes, guys immediately flocked to her.

"Bella," I said tentatively, yet in frustration, as I stood behind her seat.

"Edward, this is Adam from Atlanta. Adam, this is my boyfriend Edward," said Bella politely as Adam offered his hand politely to me. I didn't take it though, I was too angry to see this guy trying to pick up my girl. "He's traveling around just like us."

"Well isn't that wonderful," I muttered as I stared at Adam a little longer than was entirely necessary. I wanted him to take the hint that he was unwelcome. That Bella was taken, by me.

"It was nice to meet you Bella. Enjoy Berlin," replied Adam as he picked up his drink from the table and walked away. I looked over at Bella and a strange look crossed her face, one I could only call determination.

"What's your problem? Am I not allowed to talk to anyone?" she asked angrily as I nervously took a big sip of my beer, still feeling angry about the sight I had walked in on when I got back from the bathroom. "I didn't get mad at you for disappearing for fifteen minutes to the bathroom or taking ten minutes to get us drinks while you chatted happily with the blonde at the bar."

"Well maybe if every person you talked to wasn't eying you up like a piece of fucking meat, I wouldn't have to get upset." I regretted the words the moment they came out of my mouth, and as I went to apologize, Bella grabbed her coat and left the bar. I ran after her, only to see her hopping into the first cab that she could find. Yet again, I had fucked up because I let my jealousy get the better of me, and because I couldn't be open with Bella about my feelings.

I didn't bother going back into the bar or hailing a cab. I walked back to the hostel, trying to give Bella some space before apologizing to her, if she even wanted to hear it. I didn't know how to tell her that I had fallen in love with her. I didn't know how to tell her that for some unknown reason, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't control my jealousy around other men who came within a five mile radius of her. Even Alice could confirm that I wasn't usually the jealous type. It was almost two hours later when I stood in front of the hostel, glaring up at the building and willing myself to go in. The bar had only been a few blocks from our place, but I had wandered around for a while, trying to calm myself down.

When I finally opened the door to our room, Bella was already asleep. I watched her for a moment while she slept and grabbed a pillow from the bed, tossing in onto the floor so I could manage some sort of sleep, even though it would be restless and lonely without her. I wanted to give her some space; she deserved at least that from me tonight. As I fidgeted on the floor, in an attempt to get comfortable, I heard her body rustling in bed. I clearly wasn't the only person awake.

"Why are you sleeping on the floor?" she asked quietly. I could barely make out her form from where I sat on the floor. She was still lying down on the bed.

"I didn't think you would want me up there," I replied honestly as I shifted below the blanket I had tossed on myself.

"Well I don't want you on the floor either. You'll probably get a sore back. You can climb onto the bed, it's big enough," she sighed as I reluctantly stood from the floor and put my pillow back. I lay on top of all the covers though, not wanting to push our boundaries, seeing as we were technically fighting.

Bella rolled onto her side so that she wasn't facing me at all. I laid down on my back and stared up at the ceiling praying that sleep would take me and I could pretend that today had been a horrible nightmare. Unfortunately for me, Bella still wanted to talk. "What were you doing in the bathroom tonight Edward?" Well damn Bella, cut right to the chase why don't you.

"I was thinking," I replied honestly. I heard her scoff gently under her breath. "I'm not kidding Bella. I was sitting in one of the stalls on a toilet seat thinking about you and us." She rolled over slowly to face me. It was the first time I had seen her since she had left the bar; her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were stained with tears. I had clearly underestimated her reaction to my overwhelming jealousy.

"Then tell me what you were thinking about," she sighed tentatively as she asked.

I reached up and cupped her cheek with my hand as gently as possible. "I was trying to think of how to tell you that I love you," I spat out reluctantly. This was clearly not one of the ways I had envisioned my declaration of love. "I'm sorry it came out like this. I was kind of hoping for a more appropriate moment than this one."

"It's better than you telling me while you think I'm asleep," she replied with a sleepy smile.

"Oh, I guess you weren't asleep huh?" I asked, suddenly slightly relived that she already knew.

"Not quiet. I didn't mind though. It made it easier for me to reign in my jealousy when I saw you talking to the blonde at the bar." I looked down at Bella and kissed her lips sweetly.

"Why was it easier?" I asked, suddenly curious that she had no reaction to seeing me with someone else, yet I was always reacting to the same thing.

"I knew you loved me, so I didn't worry about what she was telling you, although I was a bit curious," said Bella as she slid a bit closer to me. "You know you shouldn't worry about other men talking to me. I wouldn't do anything."

"And how am I supposed to know you wouldn't do anything?" I asked as I pulled her into my arms and she rested her head on my chest.

"Because I love you too Edward."


	13. Berlin Part 2

**A/N: So this one is kinda long, for me anyways. Over 4,000 words. I'm glad everyone appreciated how they finally expressed themselves. I didn't think it should be in a grand gesture or anything like that. No skywriting or any of that shit, and before you ask, yes they will have sex. I know when and where, they just aren't in that city yet.**

**A lot of people have been asking why Bella hasn't told him yet about Columbia and I am going to be completely honest with you guys, because your reviews have been fantastic. I have already written that chapter. It's not coming yet. It was actually one of the first chapters I wrote, because I knew how I wanted it to play out. So please be patient and just enjoy the next few cities of fluff and love and lemony goodness. Perhaps if you guys are really nice with the reviews, I'll provide a snippit of the 'columbia reveal' in a future a/n.**

**Enjoy! ******

**BPOV**

When I woke up the next morning, I rubbed my eyes to adjust to the light in my room, but was surprised to see there wasn't any. I rolled myself away from Edward, who was still sleeping on top of the covers of the bed, fully dressed and looked outside. It was raining, and not some light sprinkle that I would be fine with, but a full on downpour with thunder and lightning.

"Looks like we're staying in today," I said to Edward as I noticed he had woken as well. "It's pouring."

"That's not a bad thing," whispered Edward as he motioned with his finger me to join him on the bed. I sat down beside him and he wrapped his arms around my shoulders comfortably. After our declarations of love last night, we were so tired from the drama that we ended up going to bed. I had initially felt that we should have consummated the relationship last night, but it didn't feel right, even though every word we told each other was perfect. The look on Edward's face this morning was already one of lust, but I wasn't up to playing this morning.

"We can play later," I said with a sly grin. "I'm gonna go send an email and have a shower. Remind me later that I need to call my mom okay?" Edward nodded his head and I went to leave the room in my pajamas, which consisted of a fairly lewd pair of short cotton shorts and a tank top.

"Can you shower first and _get dressed?_"asked Edward, clearly emphasizing the desire for me to be wearing a little bit more clothes. I relented primarily because I didn't want to start another argument with Edward, and I was a bit cold. I grabbed some clothes and my shower kit and headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day. When I got back into the room twenty minutes later, Edward had two cups of coffee and some muffins for us. I grabbed the chocolate chip one, knowing full well Edward had meant it to be for himself. I smirked and expected him to fight me for it. "So this is how it goes? You steal my muffin and I can't fight back because I'm in love with you?"

"Something like that," I said as I thanked him and kissed his forehead before taking a big bite of the muffin. He groaned and ate his breakfast in silence. When he headed to the shower a little while later, I headed down to the lounge to check my email. I had two this morning. One each from Angela and my mom. I opened my mother's first and thankfully she didn't have too much to say. My dad was taking her into Seattle next weekend for a romantic getaway and a Mariner's game. She told me she ran into Mike Newton around town and he kept asking about me and when I would be back in town. I didn't respond back to her, knowing that since it was Sunday I would be calling her later in the day. Angela's email was something I was a lot more interested in.

_Bella,_

_You guys look so adorable in that photo! Don't even get me started on Edward's abs. So has anything else happened between you two? Come on, share some details. I got my room assignment in college and I luckily have my own room. Did you hear anything back from Columbia on your room? I'm sure if you did your mom would have told you. Where's Edward living while he's at NYU? Surely one of you will have the luxury of privacy * wink wink*._

_Miss You_

_Angela._

I wrote my longest email of the trip, if not ever, to Angela that morning. I told her all about what happened on the train ride, well not every explicit detail, but I revealed enough that she didn't have to Google anything to know what went on. I also told her about last night at the bar and Edward's unjust jealousy, which then resulted in us revealing we were in love with each other. Angela would definitely love this little additional bit of information. I made sure to emphasis that we had yet to have sex though. Just as I hit send, Edward showed up and sat down beside me.

"Heard from Angela?" he asked with a grin.

"Yeah I did. No naked pictures for you though," I laughed as Edward sulked in mock disappointment.

"You know the only person I ever need to see naked again is you," he whispered lustfully into my ear. I watched with a bit of desire as he opened his email and laughed easily at something from Alice. They're relationship made me envious that I had a sibling, but this is the downfall of being an only child. It's not that my parents didn't try to give me a little brother or sister, but Renee had such a hard time during her pregnancy with me, nothing ever came to fruition. I pulled up the internet site for our Eurorail pass, deciding that since we were supposed to leave on Tuesday, we might as well find somewhere else to go.

"Poland?" I asked Edward with a quizzical look. He shook his head, clearly not too interested in heading to Warsaw for a few days. "Slovakia?" I offered again, but this time Edward huffed angrily. "Okay, what about Prague. You can't have anything against the Czech Republic, can you?"

"No, Prague is good," he said with a crooked smile. "We'll definitely have to hit the Mozart Museum and Charles Bridge."

"We can decide when we get to Prague what we want to do. They certainly seem to have a lot of churches. You'll probably get struck down if you go into one though," I said with a laugh as Edward glared at me.

"Yeah, probably. Check the train times. How long does it take to get there?"

"It's less than five hours. Sorry no sleeping car this time," I said with a wink. "The train leaves here at nine in the morning, so we'll get there around two. Sounds reasonable right?" I looked over at him and he was still working on his email to Alice. He was taking almost as long as I did when I emailed Angela. I just smiled and watched as he nodded his head in agreement. "I'll look up the hostels since you are busy with your e-mail." I ran through several sites finding nothing of interest until I found one that offered up apartments for rent. It was listed as hostel, and was relatively cheap, so I decided to check with Edward if it was something he was interested in. When I turned back to him, he was staring at me. "What?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking about how beautiful you are," he replied with a wink.

"Okay, well put it back in your pants Edward. We need to decide on a hostel and I like this one," I said as I pointed at the computer screen in front of me. "It's fairly central in Prague, but they are individual apartments. We would have our own bathroom, living room, bedroom." As soon as I mentioned it, Edward perked up considerably.

"How long do you want to stay in Prague?" he asked nervously. It was actually one of the cities I was most interested in visiting, so I suggested we stay for at least five days. "So, we'll leave next Sunday?"

"Yeah, is that okay with you?" Edward nodded and then handed me his credit card to book the hostel. I glared at him but I knew it was pointless, he wasn't going to take no for an answer, so I just sucked it up and booked the room. Once I was done and had printed out our confirmation, Edward and I decided to grab a few random menus from the front desk and head upstairs to enjoy the rainstorm from the comfort of our room.

"Do you think the power might go out?" asked Edward with a hopeful inflection to his voice after we entered the room and he locked the door behind us. I glanced at a few of the menus, knowing full well we had no intention to go out today and would definitely be ordering in.

"Look, they have Pizza Hut," I responded with a big smile. Suddenly Edward was behind me, his lips glued to my neck. "Can we have Pizza hut for dinner?" I asked breathlessly as he continued sucking and biting on me. There would definitely be another hickey there in a few hours.

"You can have whatever you want Bella," he said as he came up for air for a moment, but then went back to my neck. His lips were driving me crazy, and clearly having the intended response that Edward wanted, because before I knew, I had turned him around and was pushing him against the door to kiss his lips hard. It seemed like all my willpower had disappeared because before I could relent, I felt my knees hit the back of our bed and I was lying down, with Edward hovering above me. Suddenly, he pulled back from our kiss and was sitting back on his heels.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I tried to catch my breath.

"I love you," he said with a sigh. I nodded in agreement as this was something I knew to be true. "So I don't think we should do it right now."

"Don't tell me you are one of those boys where everything has to be perfect. I bet your first time was at prom with your girlfriend of like two years," I said with a loud laugh, practically repeating for verbatim what he had said to me only days ago when I was the one who stopped us from having sex.

"Shut up Bella, you know better to assume that I had a girlfriend when I went to prom." Edward laughed gently, but then his face fell slightly and he started talking again. This time more nervously. "No, I love you and I think it should be the right time for us when we make love. I don't want to do it just because it's raining out and we have nothing better to do." I nodded at him, because even though I really wanted him, he was right. We were in love and it could wait. "We can still fool around for hours though."

"How about we spend more time getting to know each other?" I asked with a gentle smile. "And then we can have Pizza Hut for dinner."

"Sounds good," he replied as he leaned forward and kissed me again. I grabbed the collar of his t-shirt and pulled him as close to me as I could, gently running my tongue along his lips. I sighed and pulled away. I think this time I was the more sexually frustrated one out of the two of us.

**EPOV**

It was just after one in the afternoon when Bella and I decided to forgo our sex for another time. I was in love with her and I didn't want it to be some lame ass attempt because I was desperate for release. I wanted it to be special. I needed to plan something, soon. I wanted to get past the making love phase and onto the unadulterated hardcore images of Bella that had been invading my every thought since I met her. I ran downstairs and grabbed us some snacks from the vending machine before we got comfortable on the bed and decided to simply ask each other every single question that came to mind, trying to get to know one another better.

"You can ask first," I said as I handed her a bag of chips and a Diet Pepsi. I watched as she nodded casually and began to think of a question.

"What is your favorite breakfast cereal?" she asked nervously.

"Cap'n Crunch," I said with conviction. She just giggled at me and explained it was her favorite too. "I'm also a fan of Cinnamon Toast Crunch though. Okay, my question is … what is your favorite color?"

"Blue. No Purple. No, I like blue the best." Bella was apparently conflicted about which she preferred. That's okay. I would buy her something in both colors, I told myself. I was planning to use all my newfound information to impress Bella with some romantic gestures.

"What is your all time favorite CD?" wow, this was definitely a tougher question.

"It's probably 'Houses of the Holy' by Zeppelin. It's a classic, but also reminds me of happy times with my best friends Emmett and Jasper. What's yours?" I asked, very curious about her music choices. Perhaps so I could learn something on the piano for her to impress her even more. I watched as Bella took a sip of her soda.

"You're gonna laugh," she said with a shy grin. I shook my head in disagreement she continued. "I love 'Tidal' by Fiona Apple."

"Doesn't she like hate every man in her songs?" I asked with a chuckle.

"Let's just say it reminds me of both sadder and happier times in my life," said Bella as she decided to change the topic. "What is your favorite book?"

"I don't read a lot honestly. Whatever I was assigned in school. I guess the best of the worst was 'The Fountainhead' by Ayn Rand. And yours?"

"I like 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte," replied Bella as she shoved a few Doritos in her mouth and smiled wickedly.

"Who was your first kiss?"

"You dear Bella," I joked as I leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on her nacho cheese covered lips. "It was some girl named Summer in the second grade. I sort of coaxed her into it, like I did most girls until I met you." I didn't even have to ask her about hers, she offered up the information voluntarily.

"Mine was a guy named Mike in the fifth grade. We even went out for a bit in high school, nothing serious though. I was reminded of it because he's been asking my mom about me back home recently," said Bella and I felt a small twinge of jealousy, but it was nothing as serious as I had when I saw all the other guys blatantly hitting on Bella.

"Well tell your mom to tell him you're taken," I said with a grin. I think even Bella was pleased I didn't fly off the handle.

"My mom doesn't know about us," she said with a tiny frown. I had known that she was reluctant to tell her family about us, but now that we were in love, I figured that might have changed.

"Are you going to tell her?" I asked curiously. I didn't want to start a fight with her over this; it was her decision after all. I hadn't told my parents, Alice had. Not that my parents would have cared anyways.

"I think I should. She would be pretty pissed if I kept something like this from her. I'm just not ready for her reaction. No offence to you baby, but I don't think it will be a positive one." She sighed as I reached over and stroked her hair lovingly.

"Tell her I'm rich, maybe that will appease her. It always seems to work with all the other girls I've known," I laughed sarcastically as Bella laid her head onto my shoulder.

"Yeah, that won't work with my family. Sorry babe. Anyways it's your turn for a question." I changed my position on the bed, suddenly sitting with my legs straight in front of me and leaning my body back on my hands. I wracked my brain for a question and what I came out with was remarkably lame.

"What is your favorite flower?" Bella told me about how roses reminded her of her grandmother, but she was always partial to orchids, but loved the smell of lilacs. She then asked me what my favorite smell was. "You," I responded confidently. Bella blushed sweetly at my response and I took a moment to lean towards her and kiss her again. I kinda wanted to move our question away from the mundane and into some of a more sexual nature, but I wasn't sure how Bella would take it. Luckily it was my turn for a question, so I asked the first thing I thought of.

"When was the first time you had an orgasm?" Bella's face went beet red. Apparently I had gone over the line and I was suddenly very remorseful. "I'm sorry. You don't have to answer that."

"In the water with you in Copenhagen," she said confidently as she watched my mouth open wide in surprise. "I said I had sex before, I never said it was any good." The sheer notion that I was the only person who had ever gotten Bella off, instantly got me hard. It also made me wish that she would ask me about my favorite brand of shampoo so I didn't have to think about it anymore.

"What's your favorite sexual position Edward?" she asked seductively as she scooted closer to me on the bed. I suddenly felt her hand on my thigh and tensed up slightly. I think I even blushed, because I hadn't been expecting that from Bella.

"Umm… I don't know," I lied and she knew it and immediately called me on it.

"Edward. You can't honestly tell me that based on all of your past experience; you don't have a favorite position." I sighed and hung my head slightly. I didn't want to tell her because it would probably lead to something I wasn't ready for. Bella seemed completely ready for anything though.

"Fine," I said reluctantly. "I would like it if you were on your back, your ankles in my hands and your legs spread open while I fucked you. I want to see it all. I want to see me in you." I glanced over at Bella and her brow was furrowed. She clearly had another question.

"Is that what you liked with other girls?"

"No," I said with a small indignant huff. "I didn't care about the other girls. I probably preferred doggy style cause then I didn't have to look at them." I felt ashamed of myself now that the words sprang from my mouth. Bella however, had a completely different reaction. She straddled my legs and started kissing me furiously. I pulled her away for a moment. "You're not mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" she questioned as she started to lick at my neck and collarbone. She could definitely sense my arousal underneath her because I felt her rock her hips, which just made me twitch even more in anticipation.

"I don't know."

"I actually think it's really fucking hot that you want to do things with me you've never done with someone else. I think its damned sexy how you described it, and even though it's a little callous how you treated the other girls, I don't give a shit. I love you and you wouldn't do that to me, unless I asked you to." Bella is definitely going to be my undoing. I grasped her ass in my hands as she pushed me back onto the bed and resumed her kissing and licking. There was definitely nothing wrong with a few hours of heavy teasing and kissing with my girlfriend, and before I knew it, we were both without our shirts, it was five o'clock and I was in desperate need of a cold shower. "I need to call my mom," said Bella anxiously, and it was with those words that my erection fell. It reminded me of Austin Powers when he was trying to think of things to not turn him on, 'Margaret Thatcher naked on a cold day.' Perhaps that would be my new mantra.

Bella jumped off the bed and tossed her t-shirt from yesterday on again which said 'easily distracted by shiny objects' and I laughed happily at her while she fished through her backpack for the calling cards her mom had given her. "What's so funny?" she asked as I sat up in bed watching her every movement.

"Your shirt. It's funny to me because Alice always refers to me as the shiny Volvo owner, so it makes sense that you would be easily distracted by shiny objects," I continued to laugh and Bella just smirked.

"You own a Volvo? I didn't know I was dating my aunt," she said with a wink. I smacked her ass playfully and reached for my shirt and slid it over my head. "What? I like my aunt, she has like ten cats."

"It's a nice car. You won't be complaining when I fuck you in it one day," I said as I licked her neck and opened the door to our room. "Ready for your impending doom?" Bella nodded her head nervously and we made our way down to the payphone in the lounge. It took a moment for her to be connected, but I could tell Bella was getting more anxious with every second. I tried to stay as close to her as possible so I could hear her mother's reaction. I was certain this would be priceless, but I knew Bella wouldn't back down about this. She loved me too much to let something her mother said bother her.

"Hi Mom," said Bella as I rubbed her shoulders in support. She leaned her head against her hands and listened intently. "Yeah, Angela told me she ran into you a few days ago at the bank. How are things going?" I heard her mother talk casually about going to a baseball game and into Seattle for a few days with her dad. She seemed like a sweet woman. It was only a few minutes later when her mom asked where she was going to next. "We're leaving for Prague on Tuesday." Suddenly I could hear Renee very clearly.

"The 'we' being that group of kids you're travelling with?" she asked. It was the perfect opportunity for Bella to tell her.

"No mom, the 'we' being my boyfriend and I." There was complete silence from both of them and I kissed Bella's forehead delicately.

"What happened to the other students?" I heard Bella sigh in frustration but I was glad she was going to be completely honest with her mom. If I was going to be a part of her life away from Europe, I didn't want there to be bad blood with her parents.

"There were no other students mom. I've been travelling with Edward since London." There was silence again. I almost thought that Bella's mom had hung up on her for a moment. "Are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here. I don't know why you felt like you had to hide this from me though," she said nervously. Bella went on to tell her about how nervous they were for her to be traveling at all, let alone with a nineteen year old boy from Boston, so she opted not to. Bella assured her mom that I was being a perfect gentleman, which was ironic because I copped a feel of her breasts the moment she said it.

"She wants to talk to you," said Bella with a grin a few moments later. I was suddenly overcome with an irrational fear and as I grabbed the phone, there was no one there. "Just kidding," she said with a smirk. "That was for grabbing my tit while I tried to talk to her. Now let's go order some pizza and make out for a few more hours," said Bella as she ran up to our room, with me following close behind trying to catch her.


	14. Berlin to Prague

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for the awesome reviews. I got the most reviews for one chapter with Chapter 13, so I am stoked. Here's some quick answers regarding questions people have asked in my reviews.**

**- Renee really isn't really that pleased with Bella, she just hasn't had a chance to digest it. Charlie won't be pleased either when he finds out.**

**- There will be more Alice and Angela in further chapters. I will also explain how Alice convinced Renee to give her Bella's email address.**

**- And sorry folks, there will be some drama and angst eventually. How boring would the story be without it?**

**Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys the new chapter, there's a little romance, some sexual tension and some drama for good measure.**

**I own a backpack with a big Canadian flag on it. But it's not from REI. I also don't own twilight. If I did, they would have had a lot more sex!**

**I keep forgetting to mention that I am available through google talk as coldplaywhore, so feel free to chat if I am online.**

**BPOV**

The next morning my eyes were assaulted by the sunlight pouring into our room. I had actually enjoyed the dismal grey rainy day and was sad to see it go, although at least now we could make it around Berlin for another day. I looked down at Edward and he was still fast asleep so I grabbed some clothes and headed to the shower. When I got back, I rifled through my backpack and realized our morning was going to be ruined because I needed to do laundry, which meant Edward probably did too. When he finally woke up ten minutes later, he patted the bed for me to join him. I cuddled up next to him and explained our dilemma.

"I'm almost out of clothes," I said with a sigh as he reached over and started playing with my still damp hair.

"So, we'll buy you new ones," he said with a grin. I elbowed him in the stomach gently and he feigned that I had actually hurt him. "Stop breaking my ribs Bella."

"Edward, I need to do laundry. So let's get your shit together and get it done as soon as we can so we can do something else in Berlin today," I said as I kissed him sweetly. Even his morning breath wasn't that bad now that I realized I loved him.

"I'm a spoiled rich kid. So today I'm calling a service to come and do our laundry for us. It might cost me like a hundred bucks, but it will be worth it to spend a few extra hours with you," said Edward as he sat up from the bed and pulled his pajama pants on. Before I even got a chance to stop him, he was sprinting down the stairs to the front desk to talk to Ernst, the owner, about laundry services. Edward wandered back into the room five minutes later holding two cups of coffee and a big smile. "They'll be here in half an hour. You'll get your clean clothes back before dinner time."

"Don't you think it's a bit extravagant?" I asked sheepishly. Edward took a quick sip of his coffee and scoffed at me.

"This is what Cullen's do Bella. We piss away our money on things so we don't have to actually work. Doing laundry with you last weekend was actually the first time I did laundry. Didn't you see me watching every single move you made and repeating it? I was shocked my clothes didn't go pink." I nodded my head and finally relented. If he wanted to do this, who was I to complain. I really did want the extra time to explore Berlin anyways, seeing as yesterday was ruined.

We ended up on agreeing to go to the New National Gallery to finally check out some of the fine art that Berlin had to offer. The moment we stepped in, Edward purchased our tickets and got himself another headset so that he could listen to the information about the art and artists. I found it totally endearing that he wanted to learn about art because it was something I loved. I was most excited to see the works of Paul Klee and Alexander Calder. Edward really enjoyed the Calder exhibit because his primary form of art is mobiles. "I am so getting one of these for my kids' bedroom," laughed Edward as he stared up at the large, intricate and colorful mobile above us.

"Is that what spoiled kids get? Original works by Alexander Calder hanging above their solid gold cribs?" I asked with a snicker.

"Fucking right," said Edward, a little too loudly for the inside of an art gallery, because a few other patrons stopped and turned to look at us. "My kids will be spoiled six ways till Sunday, but unlike my parents, I'll actually be around to enjoy it." I watched him as he walked towards another painting and stared at it, looking a little miserable. I wanted to comfort him for having such distant parents, but I had no frame of reference. My parents are still married, happily at that, and hardly let me out of their sight, let alone ignored me. I walked up behind him and simply gave him a sweet hug, before I stood beside him and admired another painting by Max Ernst. It was only a couple of hours later when we were walking out of the gallery and Edward grabbed my camera to take a picture of us and one of the gallery.

"You better not forget to send me these pictures Bella," he laughed as he handed the camera back to me.

"Considering the amount of time you spend reminding me, it's ingrained in my mind Edward. It'll probably be one of the first things I do when I get back to Forks. After calling you of course to let you know I got home safe," I said with a smile. We walked back to our hostel, hand in hand, randomly discussing the most mundane things ever.

"If you could be any shape, what would you be?" asked Edward with a sly grin.

"What the hell kind of question is that?" I answered in frustration. It was officially the weirdest thing he had ever asked me. He didn't answer, which meant he was looking for some sort of response. "Um, a triangle," I sighed, hoping he wouldn't ask for an explanation because I didn't have one. I spent a few minutes trying to come up with an equally odd question.

"If you could have any superpower, what would it be?" I asked with a smile. I knew mine would be invisibility.

"I'd want to be able to teleport, so one minute I was in Boston and the next I was in Forks with you. That would be cool," said Edward as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and we kept walking. He was right, that would be cool. Suddenly I had another idea for a question.

"If you could have sex with any one of the Disney Princesses, which would be it be?" I asked with a laugh. Edward actually had to stop on the street and consider it.

"Belle from Beauty and the Beast. She's got long brown hair, brown eyes and almost the same name as my girlfriend, who is like infinitely hotter than any Disney character though." That was a great answer I thought as he squeezed my body closer to him.

"What is your favorite kind of donut? I'm partial to the jelly filled," asked Edward amiably.

"Oh, well that one's easy. Honey Crueller," I replied confidently with a small laugh. "What is your favorite one-hit wonder?"

"Mine is 'Just a Friend' by Biz Markie. Did you know he teaches kids how to beat box on some Nickelodeon show called 'Yo Gabba Gabba'? Just an interesting side note. What's yours?" asked Edward curiously as we rounded the corner towards a little café so we could have some dinner.

"'Lovefool' by the Cardigans," I said as we walked into the restaurant.

We stopped for a quick dinner before heading back to our hostel. The rest of our walk home, all I could think of was whether our laundry would be there, and of course it was. We both headed up stairs and changed into our clean pajamas and lay down in bed to relax. It was quiet and nice. Edward stroked my hair gently as I laid my head on his chest. Before we knew it, we had both fallen asleep, but we had forgotten to set the alarm. When we woke up it was almost eight in the morning. Thankfully we had packed our bags the night before, so that was not a concern. Unfortunately there was no time for a shower so we got dressed as quickly as we could and hailed a cab to the train station. We ended up in our seats on the train with only about five minutes to spare.

"Didn't you set the alarm?" I asked Edward in mock anger. I wasn't really upset; it was just funny to me that since he had insisted on doing it for the remainder of our trip, he had forgotten.

"No. I was too distracted playing with your hair and then we fell asleep, and it just never happened. I promise to set it in the mornings before we even leave the hostel going forward, okay?" He asked with a sweet kiss to my forehead. I nodded and curled up beside him on the seat of the train. I grabbed Edward's iPod and while he listened to it, I made the song selections until he fell asleep. It was only two hours later that I shoved my book back into my bag and woke Edward up so that we could get off the train and into Prague.

"Did you have a good nap?" I asked as I kissed him gently on the lips as I shoved his iPod into his backpack for him. He just grunted and stood from his seat sleepily. We tossed our backpacks on and eagerly stepped from the train to enjoy all the sites of Prague.

**EPOV**

We walked from the train station to the hostel that Bella had booked for us, and luckily they were willing to let us check in a bit early. I got our keys and we headed up to the third floor where our little room was awaiting us. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn't that little. It actually reminded me of a smaller version of Emmett's apartment at Yale. There was a little kitchen, a nice big bathroom and a queen sized bed. We even had a TV and couch to relax on. No more watching TV and trying to cop a feel of my girl in the common room.

We tossed our bags onto the bed and grabbed the new map for Prague that I had picked up when we got off the train. I usually pick it up before we get on the train, but since we were running late, we skipped the map until we got into Prague. "Let's do something you want to do?" suggested Bella as we stared at the map feeling a little overwhelmed.

"Okay then, let's go to the Mozart museum," I said confidently as I checked out where it was on the map. It was only a few blocks away so we grabbed Bella's purse and camera and hightailed it out onto the street, walking quickly because it was due to close in three hours and I wanted to spend as much time there as possible. When we walked in, I quickly paid for our tickets and led Bella through the exhibits which showcased some of his musical sketchings, manuscripts, compositions and much more. It was actually very interesting to me, and I was pleased because Bella seemed interested too. I told her eagerly about some of the things in the museum, about my favorite Mozart pieces and with every additional piece of information she seemed happier. We ended up eating dinner at the café in the museum before taking a cab back to our little apartment.

"It feels kind of weird," said Bella later when she wandered out of the bathroom in her tiny shorts and tight tank top. My mind starting imagining some of the dirtier things I would like to do to her when she suddenly cleared her throat. "Earth to Edward."

"Huh?" I responded casually as I snapped out of my very erotic day dream.

"I was just saying that this hostel feels weird. It feels like we're living together or something," she cracked a slight smile at those words.

"Maybe one day we will be," I said with a grin. Bella came and sat with me on the couch, her legs over mine and we watched a horribly dubbed version of 'The Simpsons' on the TV.

"So, what do you want to do tomorrow?" she asked as she slowly began to run her fingers through my hair. I felt heavenly and I told her so.

"We're going on a romantic date tomorrow night," I said with a sly smirk. I had gotten some information while at the Mozart Museum about an open air cinema that was held in Prague weekly, and luckily for us, it was tomorrow night. Needless to say I had visions of lying out on a blanket with Bella in my arms as we watched some movie in a foreign language that neither of us understood. It would be oddly perfect.

"Do I have to dress up?" she asked as she perked up one eye brow in curiosity.

"Not really. We'll be outside, so just dress for the weather okay?" I asked, hoping I had placated her interest. Of course, I hadn't. She spent the next ten minutes asking me every possible question about our date, and I lied through my teeth.

"What if I wear a skirt?" she asked with a seductive grin.

"Then your legs might get cold," I explained to her.

"What if I wear no panties?" Bella asked again, this time though she was whispering it in my ear as she bit down gently on my lobe.

"Then I'll have to punish you Bella," I said with a maniacal laugh. "No seriously baby, we're gonna be outside and there will be other people there, so I doubt you'll go commando."

"You never know. What are we doing for dinner?"

"We're going to a restaurant near the place where we are going after dinner," I joked, trying to be as vague as possible. Bella was getting increasingly frustrated at my lack of information and she quickly climbed off of me in a huff and climbed into our bed. I glanced down at the clock and it was almost eleven, so I shut everything down in the apartment and joined her. "Are you mad at me?" I asked as I wrapped my arm around her waist and we began spooning comfortably together.

"I'm not a super huge fan of surprises," sighed Bella as she turned onto her back and looked up at the ceiling.

"I promise it is not a bad surprise. You will love it," I explained as I kissed her forehead sweetly. "If it helps, you can surprise me by not wearing panties." I laughed heartily at this and hoped I had cheered her up somewhat. I watched as a small smile formed across her face and she punched me in the shoulder. She turned back onto her side and I slid in behind her, spooning her gently to me as we both fell asleep.

We woke up late the next morning and decided we would go check out the Prague Zoo for something different to do. We were back at the apartment before four so that we could get changed and Bella was still confused as to what she should wear. The movie was supposed to start at seven thirty, so I was pretty eager to get her to a restaurant so we weren't forced to end up eating at McDonalds due to a lack of time. I pulled clothes out of Bella's bag and handed her a pair jeans, which I knew were pretty tight on her, and a t-shirt that said 'you wish you could quit me' and threw them at her. "Get dressed Bella," I said with a hint of anger to my voice. Bella wandered into the bathroom and came out a few minutes later looking stunning, as per usual.

"What if I get cold?" she asked as she tightened her ponytail and grabbed her purse and camera from the living room.

"I promise with all my heart that I will keep you warm tonight," I said confidently as I grabbed a blanket from the bed and folded it up to bring with us. Bella just eyed me curiously as I opened the door and we headed from the hostel into the warm Prague night. We ended up finding a really cute restaurant near the plaza where the movie would be playing and had a very casual dinner. Bella was still curious about our plans for the rest of the evening, but I assured her it was all very PG rated. I thought I saw a hint of disappointment in her eyes when I mentioned this fact.

After dinner, I grabbed her hand and led her to the open plaza where other people and couples had already gathered to watch the movie. It was going to be projected onto a large screen in front of one of the old town buildings. As we moved through the groups of people and Bella looked down at everyone, she gripped my hand tightly in hers. I found us a somewhat decent spot and laid out our blanket.

"We're watching a movie?" she asked incredulously as I sat on the blanket and Bella climbed between my legs with her back to me.

"Yeah, I don't know which one, but does it matter? I don't even know if it's in English," I responded honestly and Bella just laughed at me. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her neck sweetly as we waited patiently for the movie to start. We lucked out because twenty minutes later, Before Sunrise with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy started, and it was in English. I watched as Bella started to laugh as the movie started. "Something funny?"

"Yeah, I've seen this movie… and the sequel. They meet on a train and end up spending the day and night together in Vienna before eventually going their separate ways, he to America and her to France." I tightened my grip around Bella and could practically hear her heart beating. "They kind of remind me of us, except we're both going back to the U.S."

"Yeah, and we're going to stay together, even if it's a long distance romance," I replied confidently. I was surprised that Bella offered no response to my statement, instead she just leaned her head back against my shoulder and we watched the movie in peace. At one point I was getting a bit cold, so I wrapped the blanket around us from the waist down. Before I was even done, I felt Bella's hands rubbing my thighs. "PG 13 date remember?"

"You're no fun Edward Cullen," she said with a pout that I just wanted to kiss off of her face.

"We can have fun when the movie is over," I whispered into her ear as I ran my hand down her inner thighs. "Just be patient baby." I started to massage Bella's shoulders, but instead of it having a relaxing effect, it appeared to turn her on more. She kept trying to move her body against mine, which was making my hard on almost unbearable. I didn't care if it was the right time or not, I was having sex with her the moment we walked into that apartment. As the movie ended, I yanked Bella up from the ground a little too forcefully, but she didn't seem to mind. I grabbed the blanket and we practically ran back to our hostel.

As we walked into the front door, I was kissing almost every inch of Bella's face and didn't even notice when we bumped into someone.

"Cullen?" I heard a male voice ask from in front of me. _Shit_.

"Peter, how are you doing?" I asked as my hard on instantly fell from seeing him in front of me. Bella gripped my hand tightly and stood beside me impatiently. She was still eager to get upstairs and naked.

"Good man, what are you doing in Prague? I figured you be in the Hamptons with the rest of your family drinking, fucking and snorting your life away," he asked as he glared over at Bella and began giving her the once over with his eyes. Her grip turned tighter on me, so I knew she was getting uncomfortable. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her closer to me, protectively. Peter was an old friend of Emmett's from high school and was two years older than me. He was an asshole, to say the least. Peter had left Boston to go to Emory University in Atlanta, and I for one was glad he hadn't come back.

"Nah man, I am traveling through Europe with my girlfriend," I said politely, even though this creep made my blood boil. He had come on to both Alice and Rosalie when we were all a bit younger, and of course, Alice was way too young at the time. Thankfully she was always able to hold her own and ended up punching him in the nose. I still wanted to kick his ass though. He never could keep his hands to himself and now he was looking at my girl like she was lunch.

"Nice to meet you… "said Peter as he extended his hand to Bella.

"I'm Bella," she said sweetly, even though she didn't accept his hand.

"Well, it was good to see you again," I lied to Peter as we turned to walk up the stairs to our room. "I'll tell Emmett you said hello." I lied again, knowing full well I'd never mention running into him to Emmett.

"Cullen, a whole bunch of us are going clubbing tomorrow night. You and _Bella_ should definitely come," he yelled up at us while we walked away from him. I didn't even both to respond. I was kinda hoping Bella would want to just check into a hotel tomorrow to get away from him. Knowing Bella though, she wouldn't go for it.

"Who is Peter?" asked Bella as we wandered into our room and I locked it securely behind us.

"Just a royal pain in the ass. Let's go to sleep," I said in disappointment as I grabbed my pajama pants and headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth and get dressed. When I climbed into bed later, Bella came out of the bathroom in her usual tank top and swatch of fabric she liked to call shorts.

"That sucked Edward, cause I was so ready to make love to you until Peter showed up," sighed Bella as she nestled her head onto my bare chest and I wrapped my arms around her.

"Tell me about it baby, tell me about it."


	15. Prague

**A/N: This might actually be a two-fer day in the 'American Girl' world. Everyone who assumed Peter was going to be an ass was right. He'll play a more important part in this chapter, but not in the entire story. Peter is not the major cause of drama in the story, just a little hiccup. Even Alice gets in a little bit this chappie.**

**Opal2084 – sorry for knocking the cardigans. It wasn't intended, but yeah, here in the US they really were one hit wonders. I'm sure if I had picked some other band I would have angered someone else LOL.**

**Oh, and be patient all… the sex is a coming. Not this chappie, but most likely the next.**

**I don't own twilight or anything associated with it. I do own every season of entourage and lost on DVD though.**

**BPOV**

The next morning, Edward had us out the door of the hostel at some ridiculously early hour, claiming he had heard about a great restaurant on the other side of town that served a great breakfast. When we finally got out of our cab, after a thirty minute drive through Prague morning traffic, the food wasn't that great. I was a little disappointed and very confused, and it was only eight in the morning. "Is everything alright?" I asked him curiously. He nodded his head and glared at his map. Since we were on the other side of Prague, we decided to see some sites over here which included visiting a few old churches.

By the time lunch rolled around, I was even more confused. Edward hadn't talked much all morning, choosing instead to take as many pictures with my camera as he could. I think I now have twenty pictures of the steeple of one of the churches we went to. When we finally sat down at a café for lunch, I was getting frustrated.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I crossed my arms in front of me angrily. Edward took a sip of his soda and rubbed his eyes. Apparently he was a bit sleepy to. "Okay, if you don't want to talk, I'll get more specific. Why on earth did you drag me out of the hostel at six thirty this morning to go eat shitty ass eggs?"

"I heard they were good," he lied as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Bullshit," I spat at him. I was practically seething by now and he knew he was screwed if he didn't say something.

"Fine. I want to steer clear of Peter," he said with a sigh. I was confused, but at least we were getting somewhere.

"What's his deal?" I asked curiously as our waiter placed our lunch in front of us.

"His deal? He's a raving lunatic. The way he looked at you in the lobby made my stomach turn," replied Edward as he took a bite of his sandwich. "And this just isn't some jealous Edward thing. He was a friend of Emmett's, but I use the term friend very loosely. Things sort of fell apart after he came on to both Alice and Rosalie, and Alice was only like fourteen at the time. I just don't want to see him." I nodded in acknowledgment of what Edward had said. I could definitely see his point, and I wasn't going to push him on it any further.

"Do you want to switch hostels?" I asked nervously. I didn't want to make him uncomfortable, and Peter was clearly doing that.

"No, we'll just do our best to avoid him. We only have a few days left in Prague anyways," he said as he grabbed my hand and thanked me for offering. After lunch we headed back towards Old Town and finally checked out Charles Bridge, The Hall Tower and the Astronomical Clock. Edward I both laughed while walking across the bridge, because even though this was a Prague landmark, it really was just a bridge. When we finally got the center of the bridge, the few was pretty awesome though. Edward and I had a woman snap a picture of us with the river behind us and when I reviewed it on my camera, we looked pretty damned good.

"You look hot," said Edward as he leaned over my shoulder and looked at the picture.

"You're not too shabby yourself babe," I said as I bent back and kissed his lips. As we walked further down the bridge, there were a few artists doing sketches of the tourists and Edward insisted that we sit for a drawing. "Seriously?" I asked as he grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the awkward looking man sitting on an ugly wooden stool.

Edward sat down on the stool in front of the scraggily man and made me sit on his lap. "You'll be happy we did this when you are staring at it on your wall one day," said Edward as he kissed my cheek and the artist kept sketching. We had been still for almost thirty minutes when the gentleman informed us he was done. When we stood from our stool and looked down, I was pleasantly surprised. He had done an excellent job. Edward paid him handsomely for the picture and we walked hand in hand down the rest of the bridge admiring our sketch.

"That thing is going to be ruined by the time we get home," I said sadly as I looked down at our picture. We looked so happy in it, it almost seemed surreal. Before I knew it, Edward had dragged me into a post office and was shoving the picture into a thick envelope. "What are you doing?" I asked furiously.

"What's your address?" he asked curiously as he stared at me impatiently. I recited the address to my parents place in Forks and watched in awe as he mailed the picture to me, in Washington. "There. Now it won't get ruined and you will have mail waiting for you at home," he said with a sly grin. I kissed his lips gently and we decided to head back to the hostel and relax for a little while. We had been out for almost ten hours already.

After we each had a quick shower, we got dressed into our 'dressy' clothes and decided to head out to dinner. We ate at a fairy fancy restaurant just off the Charles Bridge, and the food was a million times better than the crappy eggs we had for breakfast that morning.

"We probably shouldn't have laughed at the bridge when we crossed it earlier today," said Edward as he gripped my hand tightly in his and we walked across the bridge again. Where earlier the bridge was littered with artists and street performers, now there was jazz band filling the bridge with beautiful music. "We've had some good memories on this bridge." I nodded my head in agreement and noticed a small bar just to the left off the end of the bridge.

"Wanna go dance?" I asked as I moved my hips seductively in his direction.

"Hell yeah," he said we walked a little quicker and into the bar. He ordered us some drinks and we sat in a booth in the back corner enjoying our booze and making out for a while waiting until my liquid courage set in and I was willing to dance. Before I even realized it, 'Feel Good Inc' by the Gorillaz was playing and I was excited to step onto the dance floor. I grabbed Edwards hand and led him to the floor, practically shaking my ass the entire way.

The moment we were on the floor, Edward's hands immediately gripped my hips and he began moving in time with me. I had to admit, even though neither of us were great dancers, we worked well together. Of course, he didn't seem to complain each time I would grind myself on him. In fact, his face would light up with excitement. A few songs later, they put on some techno crap and Edward led me from the floor and back to our booth. He knew I hated that stuff and I was grateful to be leaving the dance floor. I assumed the moment we sat down, more making out would occur, but just after we sat down and I bit down on his bottom lip, a familiar voice rang in our ears.

"Mind if I join you?" asked Peter as he sat down across from us without permission. Shit. This evening had gone from excellent to shitty in mere seconds. We had the worst fucking luck.

**EPOV**

I cringed the moment I heard his voice asking to sit down. He had just interrupted what had started out to be an awesome night, which I was praying would end up a lot better than all our previous nights. Even Bella was pissed when she pulled my lip from my teeth and turned towards him. I was about to tell him to screw off, but he had already made himself comfortable in our booth. What a fucking tool.

"So Peter, are you travelling with anyone?" asked Bella in an effort to be polite. I took a sip of my drink and pulled her onto my lap, making sure Peter knew she was mine. All mine.

"No, I'm flying solo. I met a few friends down in London, but otherwise it's just me," he said with a false smile. Everything about this guy was fake and it made me nauseous. I had a feeling he was going to be hard to shake tonight. I suddenly felt an irrational need to leave Prague tomorrow.

"Where are you going next?" I asked curiously, knowing full well we would be heading in the opposite direction, even if it meant going back to Berlin or Hamburg. He looked at me intently for a moment before responding. I think he was trying to figure out where we were going. I might have been an uninvited guest on Bella's trip originally, but there was no way in hell Peter was travelling with us.

"I think I might head over to Ibiza. Some friends said the party scene there was really cool. Much better than here honestly. So Bella, are you from Boston? I don't recall meeting you at any of Cullen's parties?" asked Peter dryly.

"No, I'm from Washington. Edward and I have been friends for a long time and met up again for this trip, isn't that right baby?" she asked seductively as she kissed my lips and then sucked my earlobe into her mouth. She was clearly making a scene for Peter's benefit and I was loving it. I ran my hand up her inner thigh and just nodded my head. Peter was watching the entire scene, and he actually didn't seem deterred by our blatant PDA. "Are you dating someone Peter?"

"No Bella, I'm not." The way Peter said her name made me shudder in disgust. I wanted to grab her hand and lead her out of the bar and head anywhere Peter wasn't. "I'm not really a one woman kind of guy. Perhaps I just haven't met the right girl though. Like Cullen here, I've certainly tested my fair share of potential right girls."

"Bella already knows about my past Peter, so don't both telling her about all the girls I slept with before her. I won't faze her," I said with a grin. I was finally glad that I had told Bella I had a bit of a reputation for being a man whore back in Boston.

"Does she know about the time you and Jasper stole some guys yacht from the country club to impress some chicks?" asked Peter with a sly grin. Bella looked down at me and laughed amiably.

"That totally sounds like something you would do Edward," she said as she kissed me again through her laughter.

"We never got arrested, so that's the important thing. Anyways, Jasper has cleaned up his act since he started dating Alice." Peter's eyes grew wide at the mention of my baby sister.

"How is Alice doing anyways?" he asked slowly. His voice was practically dripping with lust and I wanted to lunge across the table and beat the shit out of him. If Bella wasn't sitting on my lap I probably would have.

"She's fine," I responded through clenched teeth. That was more than I wanted to discuss Alice this evening. In fact, I didn't want to discuss any of this at all. I wanted to be wrapped in Bella's arms, feeling her lips all over me and making love to her. I was starting to regret my decision to make our first time special. At this point, I just wanted to get it over with.

"Remember that party you threw at Lauren Mallory's house. Her entire family was gone for the weekend and when they got home, they thought they had been robbed. That was priceless. Didn't she end up sleeping with you a few weeks later?" asked Peter snidely, but I didn't respond. Yes, that had happened, but I was extremely high when we found her spare key and used it to throw a house party. In my defense, everyone enjoyed themselves.

"Did you really do that?" asked Bella anxiously as I nodded my head.

"You know my past is less than stellar Bella," I said with a sigh. I was frustrated that Peter was dredging up my past. If Bella ever heard these stories, I would have preferred to be the one to tell her.

"I heard Emmett got all serious with Rosalie? What the hell's with that? She was some crazy ass prude when we were in high school. He must be pretty hard up to want to date Hale." It's like Peter was trying to push all my buttons tonight. Next thing you know he's gonna declare my mother a MILF or something equally disturbing.

"I guess she changed when they got to school. They are both going to Yale if you remember, Peter." I growled at him irritably. "Plus, from what Rosalie has told me she was never a prude, she just always hated your guts. Do you call every girl you can't get a prude?"

"Well good for Em. I have heard those ivy leaguers are serious panty droppers. So Bella, are you going to an Ivy League?" asked Peter with a wink. I was officially fucking done.

"Stop flirting with my girlfriend Peter. If you want to talk about the olden days, find someone who gives a shit," I spat out furiously as Bella gripped my hand tightly in hers. Unfortunately for all of us, I now had to go to the bathroom. I didn't want to leave Bella alone with him though and as I whispered my dilemma to her, she insisted she could handle herself for two minutes. I reluctantly let her off my lap and practically sprinted to the bathroom. Of course she could handle herself, she was the only daughter of a police chief in small town Washington. She could probably pistol whip him three ways till Sunday and not even break a sweat. Oh, how I would pay to see that.

When I walked back to the table a few minutes later, Peter was still trying to sweet talk Bella. I stood behind him for a few moments and Bella saw me standing there. "He's just going to treat you like all the other girls who he's fucked. He'll use you and dump you," said Peter, his voice trying to sound sickly sweet as he did his best to warn Bella against me.

"I'm still here Peter. We've been together a while, and here I sit. Do you think I care if Edward banged everything with a heartbeat while he was in Boston? Because I don't. How do you know I didn't fuck every willing cock back in Washington?" Bella was doing her best to defend me, but suddenly I began to wonder if what she was saying was true. Had she been the town bicycle in Forks? Has everyone had a ride but me? I shook the image from my mind knowing full well she wasn't like that and tried to focus on their conversation again.

"Bella, I can clearly tell he's not giving you something. You look sexually frustrated. I can take care of that in one night," said Peter with a seductive wink. Thankfully, Bella knew I was behind him and she was emboldened by this fact.

"Do I look like I am complaining about the sex I have with Edward?" she asked nervously. She clearly didn't want to discuss our sex life with him, but she wanted him to get the hint, so she kept going. Personally, I was getting extremely turned on by confident Bella. She leaned forward towards Peter and started to talk to him in a low sexy voice. "There is no way your pencil dick could even compare to his, so don't bother. He fucks me just right, every single fucking night, in every possible way," she said as she leaned back from her position and shot me a quick glance. Peter was sitting still with his mouth agape.

"Come on baby, I need to get you home to fuck you senseless," I said with a sly grin as I grabbed her hand and led her from the bar. The moment we stepped out into the cool Prague air, I was instantly relieved. "I think we should head to Vienna next, and as soon as possible." Bella nodded her head eagerly in agreement. Apparently she wasn't a huge fan of Prague either. When we got back to the hostel, Bella hopped onto one of the computers to check out train times for the next day and I called Alice, collect. I could only imagine the look on my parents face as they got their phone bill.

"Edward, why the fuck are you calling?" asked Alice as she slurred her words slightly.

"Are you drunk Ali?" I asked with a grin. Of course she was drunk; she was an eighteen year old with a ton of cash and a lonely summer. What else was she going to do?

"Don't worry big brother, Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie are here too. I'm being taken care of. Jasper even offered to hold my hair when I puke, isn't that sweet?" she asked as though this was actually romantic to her. Alice and Jasper had only been dating a few months and they already made me sick to my stomach. "Where's Bella? Can I talk to Belllllaaaaaa?" she screeched into my ear.

"No. You'll never guess who I ran into here?" I said with an exasperated sigh. I could hear my friends and family in the background giving Alice shit for holding up their drinking game.

"Shut the fuck up, it's Edward," she yelled at them. I actually had to pull the phone from my ear and Bella started to laugh, having clearly heard our exchange. "Where are you?"

"I'm in Prague. Now can you guess who I ran into?" I asked again, frustrated for having to repeat myself, but what could I really expect, she was clearly wasted.

"I don't know. Oprah? Ooh was it like Karl Lagerfeld or Donna Karan? Dolce and Gabbana?" she asked hopeful.

"No Alice. It was Peter." Suddenly, the phone and the conversation in the background went silent. She had clearly put me on speaker phone a few minutes earlier. "We had a little confrontation last night and tonight. He even had the nerve to try to hit on Bella, not that I expected any less of him."

"Did you kick the shit out of him?" she asked with excitement in her voice.

"No. But we're leaving for Vienna tomorrow. I can't stand to be anywhere near the asshole," I said with a resigned sigh. I felt bad we were leaving, but even Bella felt it was for the best. Alice and I chatted amiably for a few more minutes before I remembered a question that had been bugging me for days. "How on earth did you get Bella's email address?"

Alice broke out into a hearty laugh and I could hear our friends join in the background. "I had Tyson research her a bit. She apparently went to a summer camp like five years ago and I lied that I knew her from camp and wanted to get back in touch. Renee's really nice. She even offered to get me in touch with Bella's best friend Angela who went to the same camp. I have her number, but I haven't called yet. It will be a bit hard to lie to Angela," laughed Alice again. I smiled a bit, actually proud at the deviousness of my baby sister.

"Don't call either of them again, okay?" I asked amused. I heard Alice grumble something incoherently. "Alice, promise me." She finally relented and agreed to butt out. We said our goodbyes and she said she was glad I had called. When I finally hung up, I had to admit I was glad I had called her too.

"I think we should take the train that leaves at like four in the afternoon. It's only supposed to take like four and a half hours to get there, and there is one more thing I want to do in Prague," said Bella as she scrawled down some train information on a scrap piece of paper.

"What do you want to do?" I asked curiously.

"We haven't been to a gallery yet in Prague, so I was hoping we could hit the National Gallery tomorrow morning," she requested sweetly. Of course, I as I looked down at her, there was no way I was going to refuse her. I had promised to take to her at least one gallery in each city, and I had yet to fail her.

"Sounds good," I said with a smile. We headed up to our room quietly and climbed into bed after brushing our teeth and changing, and again, sleep overtook us within minutes. If it wasn't people or our own issues interrupting all the sex I wanted to have, it was my inability to stay awake. Damned sleep, I curse you, you cock blocking son of a bitch.


	16. Prague to Vienna

**A/N: I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. This was one of the scenes that has played out in my mind since I decided to write this story. The confrontation over Columbia is the second one, but as I have told my lovely and awesome readers, that isn't for a bit, so enjoy their lemon and all the fluffiness that will follow for the next few chapters.**

**Opal2084 – don't worry, I didn't take offence. If you should be mad at anyone, it should be VH1 had the cardigans listed on their recent list of 100 best one hit wonders. It was on TV when I wrote the chapter, so that is where I got it from. LOL**

**Matalina – I hope to god I don't screw up Vienna. It's one of the cities I want to visit most in the world. That and Paris. Oh how I wish I was a bit younger and could take this trip myself, with my own Edward or Rob Pattinson for that matter. I wouldn't complain! If you have any suggestions for things to do in Vienna, feel free to let me know.**

**I've been asked by several people if Peter will be coming back, and I honestly cannot say for sure. I am making this shit up on the fly people. Two days ago, Peter didn't even exist. He may make a reappearance at some point, just so Edward can beat the shit out of him like most of you would prefer. All I can say is keep reading and reviewing. Thanks for the lovin!**

**I don't own twilight or anything like that. I do own a massive amount of pictures of Niagara Falls though.**

**Oh, and the whole time I was writing this chappie I was listening to Iron & Wine, particulary the song "Passing Afternoon" I am officially obsessed with this song. **

**BPOV**

The next morning, Edward and I took our time showering and getting dressed. We packed our bags and dropped them off at the front desk to be held until we came back later in the day to get them. I grabbed us some coffees and pastries which we ate in silence as we walked towards the Convent of St. George at Prague Castle. As I did more research last night, I had discovered that the National Gallery actually consisted of several galleries and we were going to two of them today. St. George and House at the Black Madonna.

Before we left though, we both took a moment to check our emails. Edward didn't have any new ones, probably because he had just spoken to Alice the night before, but as I expected, I had one from my mother and one from Angela.

My mother's was short and sweet. She asked me to call her in the next few days to discuss the Edward situation. She had told my father, and of course his reaction was less than stellar. I wasn't going to let this worry me though, because I was in love with him, and no matter what they said, they weren't going to come to Europe and drag me home. I was considered an adult in the eyes of the law, and they knew this. Angela's email was a lot more positive, thank god.

_You guys practically did it on a train. That is so hot. Ben will hardly go near train tracks, for safety reasons he claims, and you are getting felt up all over Europe. You are such a lucky bitch. Try not to let Edward's jealousy bother you too much, he just loves you, which I think it sweet. After this long, Ben doesn't even care if I get hit on anymore. It used to be cute, now it's annoying. I bet if I tell him all the things Edward is doing with you in Europe, he might step up his game plan._

_Miss You_

_Angela_

_Btw… I saw your mom again and she mentioned Edward, so I guess you finally told her. She didn't look too pleased to find out I had known for a while, and that I had actually suggested you travel with him. I don't think we'll be talking much more until you get home._

I sent her a quick email to tell her not to worry about my mom and that we were heading off to Vienna later in the day. I told myself I would need to call her soon, and then Edward appeared at my side and we stepped out into the streets of Prague for our last day.

Edward paid our entrance fees at St. George and picked up a headset to listen to, which was our usual routine. I still find it adorable that he shows an interest in art because of me. The entire collection was nineteenth century art and I could tell Edward wasn't overly impressed. It was interesting to me, but I hadn't actually heard of many of the artists and when Edward asked, I couldn't even pronounce their names. We only spent an hour or two in the gallery before heading over to the House at Black Madonna where they had their retrospective of Czech Cubism.

"Doesn't Picasso do work like this?" asked Edward curiously as he stared intently at work which clearly looked like a broken and reassembled piece of machinery.

"Yeah, he and George Braque are considered some of the most prominent cubist artists. I don't think we have seen much of their work, but I know there are a bunch of paintings by Braque at the Louvre, so we'll see them eventually," I said with a smile. I was glad to share anything with Edward that he wanted, especially my love of art.

"I think my grandparents own one like this," he remarked casually, although it honestly didn't shock me that they would have some original cubist art work in their gigantic mansion in Massachusetts. They probably had some massive collection of art that almost any serious collector or curator would kill for. His family seemed pretentious enough to flaunt it too. He just sighed and we continued walking through the gallery, with me answering his random questions every so often. It was just after two when we left the gallery and took a cab back to our hostel to pick up our bags. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at the train station and Edward picked up a new map for Vienna for us to review on the train.

It was just before nine at night when we pulled into the train station in Vienna and walked the three blocks to the hostel I had booked for us. We were both excited because we had a private room with a double bed and our own bathroom. I hoped that the next five days in Vienna were going to be a lot more interesting than Prague, which was officially my least favorite stop on the trip even though the city was beautiful. I was hoping for something a little more like Copenhagen where we first started to discover each other intimately. I had missed his touch more than I thought possible. Even though there was kissing and the occasional grope, we hadn't moved past second base in a few days. Whereas before our sex life seemed to be moving as fast as a rocket, it now seemed at a stand still. Of course, I didn't want to tell Edward this. However, from the look on Edward's face when we walked into the room, he appeared to agree that things needed to be moved forward. Unfortunately for us, it was already late enough, so we grabbed a quick bite to eat at a nearby Subway and headed straight to bed. No sex, no fondling, just a quick peck on the lips and I slipped into a restless slumber.

"Wake up sleepyhead," said Edward as he poked me on the arm the next morning. My mind immediately wished he had been poking me with something completely different at that moment. I shook my head in an attempt to clear my mind of those thoughts. It was way too early for this.

"Go away, I was having a lovely dream," I replied groggily as I rubbed my eyes and tried to avoid the bright sunlight pouring into our room by pulling the sheets over my head. He quickly pulled it back down and kissed my cheek.

"What was it about?" he asked curiously as he ran his fingers through my hair softly.

"I was traveling through Europe with a very handsome guy. He was sweet too, if not a little crazy at times," I sighed and followed it up with a laugh. I couldn't very well tell him my real dream, which involved us, no clothes and the largest four poster bed imaginable.

"Well, that does sound like a nice dream, but if we don't get up we'll never make it out of the room," said Edward as he kissed me again, this time on the lips. "Not that I would complain." I nodded my head and slowly sat up from the bed. He was right; we needed to get up, plus my stomach was starting to growl, so it was only a matter of moments before I started to gnaw on the wooden headboard out of hunger.

"Let's shower and head out of here," I said with a sigh as I threw my legs over the edge of the bed and headed to the bathroom. It was less than an hour later that Edward and I were walking down the Museum District, trying to decide where to start. As my stomach growled again, it had been decided for us. "Food."

We ate at a small café which lined the district and did some people watching while checking out the local galleries. Edward was eager to go into MUMOK because he thought the name was hilarious. I had to advise him that it was just the abbreviation for the museum of modern art.

"Oh well, that's fine too," he said with a laugh as I paid for our meal for once and we walked hand in hand towards the gallery. While I paid for our tickets, Edward was busy reading some pamphlets they had on the counter. He shoved a few into his back pocket and grabbed a headset from their customer service area before grabbing my hand and dragging me into the gallery. I didn't know how he to managed to put up with all the galleries I had dragged him too, but he was an eager participant, so I couldn't complain too much. We spent a few hours checking out their collection of realist, modernist and pop art paintings, photos and sculptures. I was particularly interested in their pop art, because in all the galleries we had gone to thus far, there actually hadn't been much. Edward seemed fascinated by them as well, possibly because all the bright colors and odd subject matters may have reminded him of a previous acid trip, I wasn't completely certain. I never was completely sure of things when I was around Edward, and it was kind of liberating.

When we finally stumbled out of the last gallery of the day, it was already getting dark, but it was still so hot that I was finally glad for once that I had decided to wear my skirt. I didn't know why all of Europe seemed to be having a heat wave while we travelled, but it was starting to grate on my last nerve. We needed another rainstorm to cool things down. For a moment, I actually missed the humid, rainy weather of Forks in the summertime. Edward and I headed to a small restaurant for dinner and then wandered the streets for a little while before deciding to head back to our hostel. It took me a little while to realize we weren't heading back to our hostel at all, but rather we were walking in the opposite direction.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I fidgeted nervously beside him. Edward just glanced down at me and offered up a big crooked smile.

"Don't you trust me?" he asked as we rounded a corner and headed towards a large open park where some beautiful music was coming from. A few hundred feet to the north of where we stood was a small stage with an open air opera taking place. There weren't a lot of people gathered around to listen, maybe a few hundred, but the music was breathtaking.

"Where do you find all this stuff?" I asked inquisitively. Edward always seemed to find the most romantic and out of the way things for us to do, like watch a movie on a big screen in a plaza or listen to an orchestra in a park. This was equally as entrancing.

"This one I found on a pamphlet when you were buying our tickets at the MUMOK," he replied with a nervous laugh. He squeezed my hand in his and we started walking forward. I thought we would be heading north to where all the other patrons were watching the opera, but instead he led me into the wooded area to the right of the park and when he was comfortable with where we were, he sat down against a big tree, and motioned for me to sit beside him. I think I shocked the hell out of him when I chose to straddle his legs instead. The music from the opera was still clear in the air as I reached down and kissed his lips softly before pulling away. My hands reached up into his hair and I pulled his lips back to mine furiously, our tongues dancing in time together in our mouths as his hands reached down my back and he squeezed me tighter to him. Based on how I was sitting, I knew he was already excited, and so was I.

When we pulled back our faces at the same time, I looked into his gorgeous green eyes and saw the same look that I knew was currently gracing my own… pure lust and desire. I took the bull by the horns and leaned forward, brushing my lip across his ear lobe gently. "I want you inside me," I panted breathlessly to him as his lips met my neck and he began sucking on me for dear life.

**EPOV**

When Bella told me she wanted me, it was like a chorus of a thousand angels singing to me, as though every moment in my existence was leading up to this. Sure, I didn't think it would be on a boiling hot night in a park in Vienna, up against a tree, but I wasn't complaining. I loved her and I wanted to show her. Of course her words almost broke me. _I want you inside me_. It wasn't formal, it wasn't dirty. It was perfect. I pulled my lips from her neck and looked up at her hooded eyes, wanting to make certain this was what she wanted. As though she could read my mind, she simply nodded her head and stood up slowly, pulling her panties from her warmth and shoving them in the pocket of my button up shirt. She was definitely wicked, I thought as she returned to her position, straddled across my jean covered erection.

I reached up with my nervous hands and slowly unbuttoned her shirt, making sure not to remove it, in case we got caught. I was seriously hoping that if for some ungodly reason, we were spotted; people would only think we were making out. I would definitely have no issues getting arrested this time though, especially if it was for having sex with my girlfriend in a public park. I would be proud to have that on my record. When I had loosened each button, I was pleasantly surprised to find she hadn't been wearing a bra all day, and I immediately leaned forward and took one of her breasts in my mouth while my hand fondled the other one. Bella's hands grabbed gently onto my hair and she was moaning quietly in pleasure as I licked and sucked every supple inch of her tits.

When her hands removed themselves from my hair, I found her trailing her hands down my shoulders to my chest, where she began to unbutton my shirt. Her hands immediately started sliding up and down my chest as I continued to lavish attention on her breasts. When Bella tossed her head back slowly in pleasure, I reached my hand down between us and lifted her short skirt up slowly, finding her wetness easily and rubbing her clit tenderly. This time she threw herself forward and grabbed onto the thick tree behind me for support, as she moaned my name quietly. Each sound from her sweet lips and each movement of her body spurred me on more and I slipped two fingers inside her wetness and began pumping my fingers in slowly, enjoying the feeling of my fingers encased in her heat.

The look of pure lust on her face and my increasing hardness was making it hard to focus. Bella was completely ready for me and I wanted nothing more than to be inside her, so I slipped my fingers and pushed her back from me gently. "What's wrong?" she asked with a disappointed look on her face. I grabbed her face into my hands and kissed her sweetly.

"I can't fuck you with pants on Bella," I said with a small laugh as her sadness immediately fell from her face and was replaced with hunger. I swiftly unbuckled my belt and unzipped my pants, and lifted myself from the ground for a moment as I shimmied my pants and boxers down till my cock sprung free between us. Bella's eyes lit up with desire as she appeared to admire my hard shaft. Her reaction to me actually made me smile and I grabbed my wallet from the the pocket of my jeans and pulled out the condom I had ingeniously put there only a few days ago. Oh I wished I had it with me on the train a few weeks ago. As I sheathed my cock, I felt Bella's lips cover my neck and chest with tender kisses. When she pulled back, I again looked to her for confirmation that she wanted this as much as I did.

She didn't say anything. Instead, she slid her body closer to mine and propped herself up a bit, so that she could position me at her burning hot entrance. She was officially the sexiest fucking person I had ever seen as she slowly lowered herself onto me and I threw my head back in ecstasy, hitting it lightly on the hard bark of the tree I was sitting against. Bella leaned forward and as our foreheads met and we gazed at each other lovingly, she began to slowly force herself up and down on me.

"Fuck Bella," I moaned as my pleasure increased tenfold from actually being inside of her. "You are so fucking beautiful," I said as I buried my head in her neck and started sucking and nibbling on her feverishly. Feeling myself wrapped in the heaven that was Bella, was beyond all my expectations, it was better than anything I could have ever conceived, and I was actually glad we waited for this. Although now that I had her, I was certain I wasn't going to let go. I wanted this for as long as she would let me. I wanted her. As I grabbed her hips firmly and started to force her down onto me harder, I couldn't help but think of doing this for years and years to come.

I released one of my hands from her hips and slipped it between us to finger to excitable clit again. "Edward" she moaned gutturally as I pinched it between two fingers and began stroking it gently with my index finger. I could sense Bella was tensing up a bit, which meant she was closing to coming, which made me happy and disappointed at the same time. I didn't want to lose the contact between us, but I was close to exploding myself and wanted to do it with her, so I kept up my ministrations on her clit and pushed myself hard into her. Suddenly she gripped my shoulders tightly and moaned my name again, this time making it last longer and sound lower. As I felt her body shudder on top of me, I deepened my movements in her and felt myself lose control, and it was the best feeling in the entire world.

"I love you so much," I whispered to her sweetly as I wrapped my arms around her and held her bare chest close to mine. I was being so loving and sweet to her, but in my head, I was planning out my acceptance speech for best love making in a European Park. _'I would like to thank Bella's parents for having sex at least once and creating this gorgeous creature for me. I would like to thank Puccini for writing the lovely opera that filled the air as I filled her, and I would like to thank the good folks at Durex, for without which this may never have happened.'_

"What are you thinking about?" asked Bella a few moments later as she had finished buttoning her shirt back up and was now helping with mine. She stood from my waist and I gently eased myself back into my boxers and my pants, with a little feeling of sadness.

"Nothing really. Just thankful for you," I said with a sincere smile, as I grabbed her hand and led her back to the openness of the park.

"Vienna rocks," she said with a smile as she kissed my cheek and we practically ran back to our hostel, eager for round two.


	17. Vienna

**A/N: Sorry this update took so long to get posted. I had started it a few days ago but never got a chance to finish it until today. **

**I'm glad everyone enjoyed the 'park' scene. It was something I had been tossing around for a bit and I am glad everyone enjoyed it. **

**Matalina, you should tell me the name of the park you went to because I actually researched parks in Vienna to find one that would be suitable, and it might be the same one. You never know.**

**More sexy times are coming, not particularly in this chapter, but it does lay the groundwork for some future fun between our favorite couple. **

**BPOV**

Vienna is by far my favorite city we have visited, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the spectacular galleries, architecture or history, and everything to do with Edward Cullen. Our evening at the park wasn't what one would call 'perfect'. There were no roses, no beds, no fancy dinners or hours of foreplay, but it was perfect for us and I wouldn't change a thing. Of course, the two more times we did it that night back at the hostel didn't suck either. They were just as sensuous and enjoyable for both of us.

When I finally woke up the next morning, naked and entwined in Edward's arms, I didn't want to leave. I glanced at the clock and it was already ten in the morning. I figured he wouldn't complain if we spent the day in bed, so I didn't wake him. Instead I grabbed my iPod from the nightstand and scanned through my songs, only listening to the ones that reminded me of Edward. It was almost an hour later when he finally stirred from his orgasm induced coma.

"Hey sexy," he said with a sly grin that I had come to love so much.

"Hey yourself," I replied as I rolled over onto my side to look at him more carefully. His hair was absolutely everywhere, definitely authentic sex hair. His eyes were clearly very tired but his smile was as big as ever. "Sleep well?"

"Never better," he replied confidently as he kissed me sweetly and ran his hand down my neck past my collarbone and to my breast. "How did you sleep?"

"Eh, I've slept better," I said jokingly as he pinched my nipple to torment me. "What do you want to do today?" I asked nervously. I was certain I knew what his response would be, more sex. I was shocked when he actually suggested we get out of bed and the room entirely.

"We're going to the Sound Museum," he said with a smile as he started to kiss my neck and my chest.

"Well if we're going, shouldn't we go shower? You smell like sex and it's already eleven in the morning." I grinned seductively at him and he practically lunged at me, pushing me against the bed.

"You're right, let's go," he shouted as jumped off the bed and grabbed my hand, pushing me into the shower. I thought he was going to jump in with me, but instead he turned on the water and left me there. He was definitely going to pay for that later. I ran through the motions in the shower, not paying too much attention as I shaved my legs and washed my hair. I was still thinking about the night before and how our relationship had finally progressed the way I had hoped it would for the past few days. When I was finally done and changed, Edward hopped into the shower and I ran down to the lounge to send out a quick email to Angela. Of course, there was already one waiting for me from her.

_Bella,_

_Your email was too short last time. I trust everything is okay? Who the hell is Alice? She left a voicemail on my cell phone saying she was a friend of yours. She sounded like she could use a barrel of Ritalin. Let me know._

_-Ang_

I wrote back a much longer response to Angela this time, of course I had a lot more to tell her specifically about the mind blowing sex Edward and I had been having recently. Although I didn't give her any intimate specifics, I actually found myself kinda proud to tell her our first time was in a park, at night, against a tree. Even recalling it now, I was getting all hot and bothered. I gave her permission to talk to Alice, but I forewarned her not to talk about Columbia because Alice was very sneaky. Now that I think about it, thanks to the cyber talents of her stalker Tyson, she might already know I'm not going to Northwestern. _Shit_

"What's wrong beautiful?" as Edward as he strolled up behind me, while I was deep in thought. He was clutching my purse and camera bag.

"I see you're ready to go," I said with a chuckle as I grabbed my purse from him.

"Well yeah, who wouldn't want to go spend the day learning about music with the most gorgeous girl in the world?" he asked as a crooked smile crossed his lips. I was melting into the chair and he obviously knew the effect his smile had on me. Part of me just wanted to drag him by the collar back to our bed, but he seemed excited about what we were going to be doing today, so I didn't follow my instincts. Instead, I hit send on my email to Angela and grabbed Edward's hand, completely ignoring the email I had also received from my mother. I was sure it would be one admonishing me for not calling her like she had asked. I thought about calling her today, perhaps Edward and I had dinner. Then it wouldn't be too early or late for her back in Forks.

"Let's go," I said with a smile as he dragged me from our hostel and down the street. Contrary to my initial intuition, the sound museum was awesome. They had all these awesome displays about the Vienna Philharmonic, an awesome room where you can hear what babies hear while they are in the womb, a place to make your own CD's as well as a room to experience surround sound at its best. No wonder Edward wanted to come here. The third floor appeared to be Edward's favorite though. They had sections on some of the best composers, and they had headsets to listen to information on them. This time Edward and I both grabbed a pair and walked hand in hand through the exhibition, listening to interesting facts about Mozart, Haydn, Mahler and many others. It was a lot more fascinating than I thought.

When we finally reached the top floor, Edward and I were both starving so we had dinner at the café which overlooked Vienna. It was my favorite part of the entire day. Sitting beside my loving boyfriend, looking out over St. Stephan's cathedral and the rooftops of Vienna. "What's on your mind Bella?" he said as he took a sip of his drink and squeezed my hand softly in his.

"It's just surreal. Today has been practically perfect. I woke up in your arms, we came here and basically played and learned about music for hours, and now we're enjoying dinner and looking out at this beautiful city. Can we just stop time and stay here?" I asked with a sigh. Edward looked the same way I felt, wistful. He was enjoying himself too and didn't want the day to end.

"Think positive, this is only day two in Vienna. We're here for three more days, till Monday. I'm sure we can find things to trump what we did today," he said with a laugh. "Although, I was partial to what we did last night."

"The day isn't over Edward," I said seductively as he leaned in to give me a gentle kiss.

"They apparently have a really nice zoo here; we could take a boat tour along the Danube, or go to one of the castles. They sound a little boring, but I bet we could get some good pictures," said Edward with a small smile. I loved that he wanted to plan all of these little things for us to do, but I just wanted to crawl into bed with him and run my fingers through his hair.

"How about we head back to our room after dinner and relax for a bit, maybe watch some crazy Austrian TV. We can pick up a few pamphlets from the front desk and find something we want to do tomorrow. Sound good?" I asked as I finished off my salad and took a sip of my drink. "Oh, and I need to call my mother when we get back. I have a feeling I'm in for a screaming match and I want to get it over with."

"Why do you think your mom is upset at you?" he asked as the waiter came and handed him our bill. He offered up his black AMEX card with a nervous smile and turned back to me, awaiting my answer.

"She's been emailing me recently and keeps asking me to call her as soon as I can, which I haven't done yet. Angela ran into her a few days ago and was pretty angry at her for not mentioning anything about you. I think this might have everything to do with you," I said sadly as he looked at me with a remorseful frown.

"You're not gonna go home early are you? Like if you parents are really mad, will you go home?" Edward's face was so heartbreaking at this point, I thought I might actually cry. I took his hand in mine and tried my best to reassure him.

"They can't make me go home. I'm paying for this trip with my own money and I'm an adult in the eyes of the law. If anything they are probably just disappointed in me, but it wouldn't be the first time," I said with a heavy sigh. After everything was done and paid for, Edward and I walked back towards our hostel and we stopped in the lobby as I stared at the payphone apprehensively. "No time like the present," I said as I pulled a calling card out of my purse and called my mom. As we were waiting, Edward offered to leave me alone to go up to our room, but I refused to let him leave my side. Instead he wrapped his arms around me tightly and listened to our conversation. I wished payphones were also speakerphones.

"Hi Mom," I said reluctantly as Edward kissed my neck in a show of support.

"Bella, why haven't you answered any of my emails? I have sent four in the past few days, with no responses."

"I've been busy mom. We travelled from Prague to Vienna one day and we haven't had a lot of time to access the computers. I haven't even checked my email in three days, so relax. I can't always email you every day," I lied, feeling very regretful the moment the words left my mouth. My mother and I had always been fairly close and shared most everything in our lives, but I didn't want to share anything about Edward with her. Perhaps because I knew when all this was said and done, he may not be in my life and I would have to listen to my mother tell me 'I told you so', when I spent all my time crying about losing him. Then again, we may we would be happy in New York City together. I don't know what will happen in August when we have to go our separate ways and I certainly didn't want to think about it now.

"I told your father about Edward and to say he is livid is probably an understatement," said my mom as she gritted her teeth. Edward, however, just laughed at the comment. A little too loudly at that. "Is that him Bella?"

"Yes mother. That was Edward. We both find it very funny that dad would have such an issue with this. All we are doing is traveling together. You would probably love him if you ever met him. He's smart, sweet and generous, he can play the piano and he's going to NYU for music… " I started to explain to her, but she didn't care.

"He could be the best person in the world Bella, but it doesn't matter. Neither your father and I think it's smart to be travelling across Europe with a strange boy." She was really starting to piss me off the further our conversation went along.

"Oh, but you think you can just give out my email address to anyone? How is Alice mom?" I asked as Edward chuckled and my mom got quiet.

"Alice is a very sweet girl, but then again, you already know that because you went to summer camp with her," said Renee, still oblivious to who Alice really was. Well, she was oblivious until now.

"Mom, Alice is Edward's younger sister. She lied to you in an attempt to get my email address because Edward wouldn't give it to her. She's clearly not the angel you think she is," I explained as both Edward and I laughed. "She's very sneaky, but has good intentions. She was worried about Edward and me, so she hunted down information on me and called you to get my email address. Please don't worry about Edward and me. We are fine. The trip is wonderful." Suddenly the phone went quiet for a few moments and I thought we might have been disconnected.

"Are you sleeping with him?" she asked tensely. I suddenly wished we had been disconnected because discussing sex with my mother was very awkward. Especially since whatever I told her would make it back to my father, who in turn would fly to Vienna and probably kill him.

"No," I lied again, mainly to protect everyone involved.

"Good, you should keep it that way. It will be better for everyone when you guys separate in a few weeks," said Renee with a sigh.

"Is that all you wanted mom? To quiz me about my relationship with Edward? We are doing fine, we're safe and we are having fun. It's really late here and I need to get to bed. We'll talk in a few days and I promise to try to respond to your emails more often, okay?" I said, trying my best to placate her.

"That's fine Bella. Make sure Edward knows not to hurt you," I just nodded my head and didn't respond to her. "I love you mom," I said as I hung up from her, feeling slightly relieved to be off the phone with her.

"How about we go upstairs and have some of that sex we're not supposed to be having?" laughed Edward as he pulled me from the common room and up towards our bedroom. "I promise I can relieve some stress," he said with a wink. I just nodded my head and let him lead the way.

EPOV

The next morning when we woke up, it was raining again. I was actually pleased to see this. Bella was sleeping soundly beside me, smiling brightly. I ran my fingers through her hair and watched her sleep. It was one of the more exceptional events in my life, sitting there watching the girl I was in love with sleeping and hopefully dreaming about me. She looked so peaceful, it almost hurt a bit when she finally stirred and woke up, looking at me in shock.

"Were you watching me sleep?" she asked anxiously as she rolled onto her back and stared up at my face.

"Maybe," I said with a sly grin. "You look so beautiful and peaceful it's hard not to watch you. It's raining out." Bella sat up slowly from the bed and propped herself on her elbows, the blankets from our bed sliding down to her waist, revealing her naked breasts to me. I was tempted to kiss them but she seemed deep in thought.

"I need to go do some shopping today," she said matter of factly.

"Do you want me to come with you?" I asked sounding hopeful. I hated shopping; in fact the last thing I had purchased at a store was condoms, which I would clearly need more of soon. Even when she went shopping in Amsterdam, I had disappeared and smoked up. I don't know why I was offering to go with her, probably because I didn't want her to go anywhere without me.

"Why don't you stay back and relax. Email or call Alice, maybe even talk to your parents?" she suggested sweetly as she stood from our bed and walked to the bathroom completely naked.

"Are you sure?" I asked as I followed behind her, watching her sexy ass as she turned on the shower and hopped in.

"Yeah. Plus, we've been inseparable for weeks. We should take a break for a few hours. Plus, you won't want to go shopping with me for what I need." Of course now that she was being vague, my interest was piqued. I just nodded my head and went to leave the bathroom so she could enjoy her shower. "You're not going to join me?" she asked sweetly as she then opened shower curtain before I could leave. I just nodded my head and slipped into the shower with her. Sadly, it was nothing remotely sexual, we just saved water and had a shower together, although I was hard almost the entire time, watching the water fall over her luscious body. I shouldn't have agreed to the shower because I desperately needed some sort of release and Bella was already done before I could even consider propositioning her. She turned off the water and toweled herself off, leaving me in a completely aroused stated.

It was less than an hour later that I watched Bella hail a cab in the front of our hostel, in the rain. She had a small umbrella that she had brought with her and insisted she would be fine, so I did my best to relax after I kissed her goodbye. I sat down at the only open computer and checked for emails from Alice.

_Edward,_

_Mom and Dad say hi. Seriously, they said hi. Can you believe that? They are off to Vancouver at the end of the week for some conference Dad has to attend, so we are planning yet another party for the servants to clean up on Friday night._

_How are things with you and Bella? I promise I have been a good sister and I have not called her mother again. Where are you now? Jasper wants to know if you will be coming home early. He wants to move into NYC a few weeks early, but says he can't do it without you. Emmett wants to know if you'll be bringing Bella around when you get home._

_I want to know if you can buy me some purses at Louis Vuitton in Paris. I'll send you a detailed list when I know you are almost in Paris. You are going to Paris right?_

_Anyways, say hi to Bella for me. You better be behaving yourself and treating her good._

_Ali_

I smiled at her email, because every word sounded just like Alice and I really missed her. I wrote back a quick email about how I was now in Vienna and I even told her that I admitted to Bella that I was in love with her, and that she had said it back to me. I was certain the next email back from Alice would involve some sort of response about how we were moving too fast, but I didn't care. I didn't tell her about the park or any of the other sex we have been having, but I told her Vienna was awesome. I even went into great detail about the Sound Museum, because I knew she would be happy about this because of my love of music. I told her to tell Jasper and Emmett to leave me alone and that I wouldn't be home early and that Bella definitely wouldn't be with me, not at that point anyways. I was leaving it open though because I really wanted her to meet my friends.

By the time I had finished the email, it had only been twenty minutes since Bella had left on her shopping trip. I hopped onto the Eurorail website to check out where our tickets could take us from Austria. After a little bit of research, I determined that I was going to insist to Bella that we head off to Hungary next and stop in Budapest for a few days and then take the train for what looked like at least a one night trip down to Athens. I really wanted to go to Greece, and I doubted Bella would complain at all. Unfortunately, as I looked into it more I discovered it was a twenty eight hour trip by train and our passes didn't work in some of the eastern European countries. So I did something I knew might piss Bella off, but I didn't care. I booked us a flight out of Budapest and into Athens for a week from today. It was a direct flight, it wouldn't take as much time and we could enjoy Greece more. I wanted to spend at least a week there, so I even took it upon myself to book us a hostel there and in Budapest for two days. Maybe Bella would find it romantic and generous that I booked everything for us. The more I thought about it, the more I doubted it. Then again, I didn't think she would like the fact that I really wanted to charter a boat for a day and go sailing and swimming in the Aegean, but we'll have to see. Perhaps that one will be a surprise.

Before I even realized it, it was almost two in the afternoon and I had already been on the computer for almost two hours. I ran out quickly to grab some lunch and headed back to our room to relax and await Bella's return. When she got back, it was almost dinner time and I was waking up from the nap I took on the couch while watching some annoying German reality show, because I had been very bored without her. As I rubbed my eyes, I watched as she placed several bags into our closet and shut it quickly, apparently not wanting me to see what she bought.

"Was it a good day?" I asked curiously as my eyes darted to the closet.

"Yeah. I spent more than I wanted to, but because you keep insisting on paying for almost everything, I could afford what I bought," she said with a sly grin.

"So, what did you buy?" I inquired as she came and sat beside me on the couch, offering up a sweet kiss.

"I got us dinner," she said as she motioned towards our table where a few take out containers sat. Bella knew that wasn't what I was interested in, but I decided she would have to go to the bathroom at some point and I would snoop, just like a kid on Christmas morning.

"I did some planning today while you were gone," I said with a smile as I opened up my container to find some chicken fingers and French fries, which looked and smelled delicious. I watched as Bella's eyes brightened. "I figured you keep mentioning that you want me to take a more active part in where we go, so I did. We're going to Budapest next. Then we're flying to Athens in a week."

I looked over and Bella and her smile was gone. "That sounds good, but we don't need to fly anywhere."

"Yes we do babe, the train would take too long, there was too many transfers and our passes didn't work in all the countries on the way to Greece. I promise you the flights were cheap." I was really hoping I had placated her somewhat, but Bella didn't say anything. Instead she sat beside me at our small table and ate her dinner, as I continued to stare nervously at our closet.

"Can't you at least tell me where you shopped? You don't have to show me anything, I just want to know the stores." I pleaded with her after we had finished dinner and were cuddling on the couch, listening to music on the small radio in our room.

"I went to some mall just on the outside of town. Everyone spoke German and it was a little daunting, but I managed to get what I needed. I got some stuff at H&M, Mexx and Zara. Then I went to a few specialty stores a few blocks from here and picked up a few other things." She was answering my question, but she was also being cryptic. "You'll see everything in time."

When she finally stepped into the bathroom to get ready for bed, I slipped quietly into the closet to check out the bags she had. There were bags from all the stores she mentioned as well as two others. One was in German and I had no idea what it said, and the other was 'Agent Provocateur'. I think I blushed three different shades of red, because I knew that was a high end lingerie store. She had bought lingerie, for herself. Which meant only one thing. _She bought lingerie for me to see._


	18. Vienna Part 2

**A/N: I'm back. Sorry the delay in updating this story. We had a small 'washing machine' incident here which finally got fixed this afternoon. Damned appliances. Now onto my little shout outs.**

**Lovebuggkiss – don't worry about the length of your reviews. At least you do review ******** There was no way I was going to be able to wait till Paris for them to have sex, especially since Paris is one of the last cities they will be going to. I think all my readers would be frustrated with me. Even more so than they are because I haven't had Bella confess about Columbia (don't hold your breaths peeps)**

**Insatiable06 – How much of their trip is left? I think we are about to go into week four, so we are halfway done, the traveling part that is. There will obviously be story once they are both back in New York. They are heading off to Hungary, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Switzerland, France Again and then London, before heading back to New York.**

**Lysvia – thanks for the wonderful review again. You're pregnant, so just live vicariously through my story. LOL**

**Keep the reviews coming, and I will keep up the quick chapters.**

**I don't own twilight or anything like that, but I do watch a crazy amount of Yo Gabba Gabba and Blue's Clues. Kill me.**

**BPOV**

I don't know what made me go into the store at all. I had already picked up a new dress and some other cute things at the mall I had gone too, but when we passed the store on the way back to the hostel, I made the cab driver pull over and let me out. As I wandered through the racks, clutching my other purchases for dear life, I was in a semi-shocked state at the price of everything. Almost everything they had was out of my price range, but thankfully there was an employee who actually spoke English. It wasn't very good, but it she spoke it good enough to understand me and what I was looking for. All I really wanted was some sort of sexy bra and panty set to go under the dress I was planning to wear, and when I showed the dress to Sandra, the employee, she showed me several _interesting _items I would never be caught dead in.

We ended up picking out two sets, one in black and one in white. The black lace set had a white ribbon detailing along all the edges and a little bow in the center of both the bra and the panties. The second set was white, with red lace detail on both the bra and the thong. It was a little more demure than the black set, but just as sexy. I almost had a shit fit when she rang in the items and it came to just over four hundred dollars. When I expressed my shock, Sandra rang though her employee discount card and I saved seventy five dollars. That was a little better to stomach, but for a moment I longed for Victoria's Secret and they're forty dollar bras.

As I was walking back to the hostel, the rain started to dissipate and the sun actually came out for a little bit. I was about a block from being back to Edward when I noticed a small pharmacy and stopped in to pick up a few items, including more condoms, since I noticed we had almost gone through an entire box in two days. I also picked a couple of candles and a bottle of massage oil. I felt so self conscious as I bought all the items and the cashier looked down at my bag from the lingerie store. He winked at me creepily as I thrust my Euros at him and practically ran from the store. When I got back to our room, Edward was obviously curious about my purchases, but I had planned everything as a surprise for him for the next night, so I hid everything in the closet and we ate the dinner that I had picked up from a little café down the road. If he ended up finding the bag, he certainly never mentioned anything to me.

We ended up going to bed just before ten because I was so tired from all the walking earlier in the day. Edward, however, was very restless and couldn't seem to sleep. He was tossing and turning most of the night and when I woke up the next morning feeling exhausted, I wished I had kicked him out of bed and to the couch like I had thought about each time he woke me up. Edward and I ended up going to the Vienna Prater and spent almost the entire day checking out the various rides and sights. We took a ride on the giant ferris wheel three times, drove some go karts and played a bunch of games, which neither of us were very good at it. When we finally got back to the hostel, it was almost nine at night and both of us were exhausted again. When we curled up into bed that night, Edward was almost asleep when I nudged him gently.

"Can I make our plans for tomorrow?" I asked as my voice cracked slightly. I was clearly nervous, but I really didn't want him to know that. I felt him nod his head against my shoulder before he finally fell asleep a few minutes later.

When I woke up the next morning, I was surprised to see Edward was already up, dressed and ready to go. "So, what's the game plan?" he asked before I even had a chance to sit up and rub the sleep from my eyes.

"How long have you been up?" I asked as I pulled myself from the bed and stood up, stretching my arms over my head.

"A few hours I suppose," he replied as I glanced down at the clock and noticed it was only eight in the morning.

"Are you high or something?" I said with a laugh as Edward sat down on the couch and stared at me curiously. "Ok, bad joke. What's going on?" He just shrugged his shoulders and waited for me to tell him what we were doing for the day. "There' a furniture museum I was going to take you too," I lied, waiting for his reaction.

"Seriously? Furniture?" he asked incredulously as I broke out into a loud laugh.

"No, but you need to relax. You seem stressed. We're going to an art gallery called 'Bank Austria Kunstforum' and then tonight, we're going out to dinner and if you're lucky, dancing." I looked over at Edward and he was finally smiling. I headed into the bathroom to shower and get dressed while he said he was going to run down the street to the coffee house and grab us some drinks and breakfast. When I finally stumbled out of the bathroom a little while later, he was nowhere to be found. I stepped into the closet and pulled out some of the clothes I had purchased at the mall. I ripped the tags off the very tiny denim shorts I had gotten and paired it with a cute little aqua colored tube top that I found on sale at H&M. It was longer than the average tube top, but I got it in a size too small, so it clung tightly to my chest and hips. As I took a quick glance in the mirror, I thought I looked hot. Then again, Edward probably thought it was too indecent to leave the comfort of our room. I pulled the tags from all the clothes and lingerie I had purchased and folded them nicely into my backpack, before I threw all the bags away and did my hair, still waiting for Edward's return.

"Did you head back to Starbucks in Seattle for coffee?" I asked when he stumbled in almost an hour later, and handed me a café latte.

"Sorry, I sent an email to Alice before I left. You look umm… really pretty," he said as he swallowed a big gulp of air. We ate our breakfast quickly since I was in a hurry to get to the art gallery and before I even realized it, we were at the front entrance of the gallery where Edward paid for our tickets and picked up yet another headset.

The gallery was actually more interesting than I had originally thought. It was comprised of hundreds of Austrian artists and their works, in all styles of art, although the focus was primarily contemporary art. I was very surprised to realize I didn't know most of the artists featured, but then again, they don't exactly focus on Austrian art in the Forks High School curriculum. We ended up leaving almost four hours later, having seen most of the exhibits. Edward claimed he was feeling a bit tired and wanted to go home and rest before dinner. I was fine with that because it gave me more time to prepare for the evening. When we got back to the hostel, Edward lay down on the couch and watched a bit of TV while I decided to have another shower, much longer than the quick one I had this morning.

"Are you okay in there?" he asked tentatively after he knocked on the bathroom door, clearly concerned I was taking too long

"Yeah, I'm just finishing up," I said as I finished and then wandered out to the living room with my hair and makeup looking perfect, but my body just wrapped in an oversized towel. "If you want to take a shower before we leave for dinner, the bathroom is all yours." Edward practically sprinted in and I wandered into the closet to get dressed for the evening. The dress I had bought for the evening was a little fancier than I would usually wear, but I didn't care. I slipped on my black bra and panty set and topped it off with my new dress. It was a light blue shade at the round neckline and slowly faded to white at the bottom hem. It had thick straps on the shoulders and it came to above my knee. I thought it was simple, with the exception of the beading around the neckline, but it was cute. I paired it with a cheap pair of ballet flats I had found and I was ready to go.

I paced nervously waiting for Edward to come out of the bathroom and when he finally did, I was not disappointed. He was wearing a nice pair of black pants topped off with a white button down shirt and a loosely fitted black tie. His hair was the usual mess, but I thought he looked as sexy as ever. "So, where are we going?" he asked anxiously as he finally took a moment to appreciate what I was wearing. "You look hot." I blushed profusely and started to explain restaurant we were going to as I grabbed my purse and he led us from our room.

It was only twenty minute later when the cab pulled up in front of a fancy restaurant and Edward led me in. I had called ahead and made reservations, and I was so thankful I had, because when we stepped from the cab, there were at least twenty people waiting outside for seats. The restaurant had an extensive selection of Italian and American food, and I opted for pasta because I didn't want to be sick later in the night from trying something a little more adventurous. Edward ordered salmon as well as a bottle of wine for us to share.

"So, this place is nice. How did you know about it?" he asked as he fingered the edge of his wine glass slowly.

"My cab driver to the mall spoke excellent English, so I asked him about a few places. He also told me about the club we're going to next," I said confidently as I took a small sip of my wine, which was surprisingly excellent. I shouldn't have been surprised that Edward knew how to pick a good wine. He probably knew what each fork was used for what on one of those big fancy dinner tables.

"Do you really want to go dancing? Don't you recall that every other time we go dancing something stupid happens?" he said in frustration, clearly recalling the two times we had gone dancing on the trip, one incident where I was hit on by some bar patron and the other was when Peter joined us and tried to convince me to leave Edward. Ah fun times.

"Yes, I want to go dancing. I want you to remember that I love you, and that you don't have to glare at or beat up every single guy that looks at me," I said, trying to lay some ground rules with Edward. I thought if he was reminded in advance that perhaps our evening would go a little smoother.

"I promise not to beat up every guy that looks at you. But, I can think about it right?" he asked with a laugh. I nodded my head and we eased into easy conversation about our next destination, Budapest. When the bill finally came to the table just before ten o'clock, Edward snatched it up quickly, not even giving me a chance to pay.

"Edward, I invited you out. I should be paying," I huffed indignantly as he just stared at me with a big smile on his face.

"No way. You probably spent way too much money on that sexy dress and other stuff," he started with a nervous gulp. "I can pay for dinner and drinks, and everything else we need. Hello, trust fund baby, remember?" he said as he pointed at himself with a reluctant grin on his face. I shook my head in disapproval as he pulled out his trusty AMEX and I finished off my glass of wine.

As we left the restaurant, I led him down the street a few blocks to where some extremely loud music was coming from. The bar was just as packed as the restaurant, but Edward handed the bouncer some money and he let us in immediately. I was actually impressed by how smooth he did it. Then again, he probably had a fake ID and several bar tabs across the state of Massachusetts, so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise. As per usual, we ended up at a small table near the back of the club, with a good view of the dance floor. Edward ordered us a few drinks and we made out like teenagers in the back of a Volvo. It wasn't until I heard the familiar sound of Justin Timberlake coursing through the speakers that I felt the need to dance. I grabbed Edward's hand and pulled him up onto the floor with me. This time the song was 'Rock Your Body' and Edward certainly attempted to do just that as he pulled me towards him forcefully and we began dancing sensually together.

As my hands gripped his hips and his found my ass, it was seemed like we fit together like a puzzle piece. I didn't notice anyone else on the dance floor with us, and was constantly pulling him towards me with his tie so that I could kiss him, or basically force my tongue deep down his throat. Before I realized it, two hours had passed and I wanted to push him into a bathroom stall and have my way with him. "I think we should get going, before I do something I will be ashamed of on this dance floor" I whispered to Edward as I was wrapped around him while we danced. He nodded his head and we practically ran from the club, our hands entwined together tightly.

**EPOV**

The ride back to the hostel was excruciating. Bella was extremely horny and kept rubbing my groin through my thin black pants. All night at the club she was all over me, and even though I loved every single second, my rock hard erection was paying the price for it now. I was thoroughly pained and desperate for any sort of release. Had this not been a girl I was in love with sitting beside me, I would have probably asked for head while I paid the cab driver handsomely to keep his eyes on the road. Unfortunately, I couldn't do that to Bella, even though she probably would have agreed enthusiastically at this moment.

When we finally got into our room, Bella excused herself for a second as I pulled off my tie and threw it towards the bathroom. Bella was only gone for a moment, but when she came back she had two lit candles with her that she placed on the two nightstands. She then walked away silently, grabbed my tie from the floor, and headed back to the bathroom. She was being sneaky, and she clearly had something in mind, but I had no idea what it could be. I laid my head back against the couch and my thoughts instantly turned to the 'Agent Provocateur' bag that had haunted my recent dreams. When I found it on the closet floor, I desperately wanted to peek inside, but I didn't. I figured if she bought anything there, it was probably meant to be a surprise, and I didn't want to have that surprise ruined.

When she finally wandered out again a few minutes later, I was thankful I never looked in the bag. Bella walked out in a sexy black lace bra and panty set, with a little bit of ribbon on it. She even had my tie wrapped around her neck and she looked absolutely gorgeous. I tried to say something to her, to let her know how good she looked, but nothing came out of my mouth when I opened it. _Perfect time to turn mute_. "Take all of your clothes off and go lay on the bed, Edward." She didn't really ask me, so much as tell me, but the moment she said it I was pulling my shirt off as quickly as I could. She could have told me to jump from the top of the Eiffel Tower, and at that moment I would have. I eagerly climbed onto the middle of the bed and lay down. "Face down," Bella said seductively.

I flipped myself over and waited impatiently for a few moments until I felt her sit beside me and reach for my back. I suddenly gasped from feeling something cold on my back, but then I relaxed a bit as it then turned warm and Bella started to rub the liquid all over my back and shoulders. She was giving me a back massage. _This fucking angel was giving me a back massage. _This became a chant in my head for the next few minutes as I did my best to enjoy the feeling of her hands on my skin. Her soft hands moved from my shoulders to the sides of my back and then down further. I groaned quietly as I felt her hands cupping and massaging my ass, it felt really good, but for some reason I couldn't express myself to her. It was only a few minutes later when I felt Bella's weight shift on the bed and she patted my back with a towel, clearly removing some of the massage oil.

"Roll over onto your back," she instructed as a smile crossed my face. I turned over as quickly as I could and watched as she began to massage my shoulders, chest and calves. My eyes kept darting between Bella's face and her body, as her hands sensually moved over my chest. She was intoxicating to me and when I finally spoke, I came across like a complete asshole.

"See something you like?" I asked, after I saw Bella lick her lips while staring at my erect cock. Thankfully she laughed at my comment before she leaned up to my ear and whispered seductively that it would get some attention soon enough. My breathing hitched slowly and I closed my eyes, smiling from ear to ear. As Bella remained bent over my naked body, I took it upon myself to reach up and cup one of her lace covered breasts with my hand. I heard her gasp quickly before she swatted my hand away with a smile.

"All in due time Edward," she replied as she moved down to my thighs and started to massage them firmly before moving herself between my open legs. Her hands worked my thighs and calves deftly and massaged away any tension I had in my body. My eyes were clenched shut as I enjoyed the entire experience, but they quickly shot open the moment I felt Bella's hot mouth wrap around my hard cock, and her oil covered hands cup my balls.

"Jesus Christ," I screamed out as I propped myself up onto my elbows so that I could see her better. It was a thing of beauty, seeing her slide her eager mouth up and down on my hard shaft. I was mesmerized by her and if she didn't' slow down I was going to burst and that was the last thing I wanted. I had been so worked up from the dancing and the massage, I knew I wasn't going to last too long, so I tugged on her ear gently and she lifted her head up, looking at me in frustration. I grabbed her arms and pulled her up to me, so that I could kiss her sweet lips. Her frustration melted as she positioned herself over my hardness and we continued to explore each other's mouths. I reached behind her, and quickly undid the clasp of her bra, throwing it to the other side of the room. My hands immediately reached up to Bella's breasts and began to grope them fiercely as she ground her lace covered wetness onto my cock. "You are evil Bella," I remarked as I reached between her legs and tugged on her panties.

"If you rip these panties Edward Cullen, so help me god you will live to regret it," she said angrily as she moved my hand away swiftly.

"Well then take them off Bella," I said with a sly grin. It had never been my intention to rip them from her, but it did give me an idea for future fun with her. I watched in awe as she slowly stood on the bed, and peeled her panties from herself seductively before throwing them across the room to join her bra.

"I spent way too much on them to only be able to wear them for three hours," she said with a small smile as I wrapped her up in my arms and began kissing her again.

"I probably don't what to know how much you paid for them right?" I asked as I rolled us over until she was on her back and I was now kneeling back on my heels, staring at her hungrily. She shook her head from side to side as I bent forward and started to kiss her stomach gently.

"You know, I wasn't intending tonight to be all soft and gentle," said Bella as I looked up at her face and saw a small look of disappointment. Well, if she doesn't want gentle, who am I to refuse? I thought to myself as I grabbed her hips and pulled her entire body back towards me. I didn't take my time at all, I grabbed a condom from the nightstand, forcing it on as quickly as possible before I shoved myself deep inside of her and she screamed out in pleasure.

"Is that what you wanted?" I asked nervously yet forcefully. Bella just nodded her head as she bit down on her bottom lip and I proceeded to continue pounding my cock inside of her tight wetness. Her fingers dropped between our bodies and she began to finger her clit while I watched in utter desire. Her moans had increased and were followed by inaudible words and whispers, some of which sounded like _fuck_ and _shit_. They were just spurring me on to thrust harder into her. Sweat was starting to form on my brow as I felt my excitement building, preparing for release. I looked down at Bella's beautiful naked body and shoved her fingers away, replacing them with my own as I rubbed her clit furiously to make her cum for me. I was ecstatic when her body shivered below mine and she tensed up, tightening all of her muscles. I called out her name in orgasm and she began milking my cock with her pussy. It was heavenly.

"That was unexpected," I said with a small grin as I fell onto to bed beside Bella. "The massage was … "

"Sheer torture?" she asked with a laugh as she nuzzled her head onto my chest.

"Well yeah, but I was going to say sexy as hell. You certainly know how to use your hands Bella."

"So do you Edward. So do you," she said with a big grin as she ran her fingers over my body again. "I think I should drag you into the shower so I can clean all the massage oil from your body." I nodded eagerly and let her lead the way into the bathroom. As I listened to the water running, I stopped and leaned against the door frame, watching Bella's every movement. She was so beautiful, caring and sexy; I wondered how the hell I ever got lucky enough to find her. "Are you okay?" she asked as she stepped into the shower, waiting for me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said as I stepped in with her and wrapped my arms around her as the water poured between our bodies. "I just love you, that's all."


	19. Vienna to Budapest to Athens

**A/N: Thanks for everyone's patience. I know, it took me a bit longer to get this chapter out, but l really was trying to finish 'Follow Through' but of course that still hasn't happened. Thanks to everyone for their wonderful reviews of the last chapter**

**Orlissa92 – thanks for the info on Hungary. I'm sorry I didn't manage to use any of it, but at least they went there, I wasn't initially planning on it.**

**Browneyedvamp75 – Your review made me laugh. I don't think I have ever seen anyone more desperate for me to finish a story. Unfortunately for you, we still have a while to go, including time back in New York. Yes, I said it. The trip will not end in Europe. There will be more stuff happening in New York and I need to thank AustralianVamp for her suggestions, because they will be worked into the story. I even dropped a hint in this chappie. I'm sure she'll catch it.**

**Lysvia – I hope your husband made it home safely from Chicago and you didn't kill him with your big pregnant belly. HAHAHA. I am also living vicariously through this story. I always wanted to travel across Europe, but that was 10 years ago, so I'm just writing what I want to do and throwing in a little B & E sexing and loving.**

*** I don't own Twlight, but I do own the Rob Pattinson GQ magazine, in which I think he looks absolutely delectable.**

**EPOV**

Vienna was by far my most favorite city ever. I used to enjoy Boston because I could get high, drunk and laid within a matter of minutes, but in Vienna I had Bella. And I had her in a park, on a coffee table, on our bed, in the shower… I had her wherever I wanted her, because she kept offering herself to me. She was suddenly insatiable when it came to sex, and I was definitely not complaining. I was reveling in it and I told her at every possible opportunity how I felt about her, and even then, it didn't feel like I was doing or saying enough.

When we woke the next morning, we were both a little sore, but in a good way. We had a quick shower together before quickly tossing on our clothes and packing all of our stuff. We had a train to catch to Budapest at eleven o'clock, which would bring us into the city just after two in the afternoon. We ended up sleeping in each other's arms for most of the trip because we were both so exhausted from the night before. We checked into our hostel the moment we got into town and quickly stepped back out onto the streets to explore the city, since we only had two days. Today was Friday and we would be leaving on Sunday morning for Athens. We ended up at the Museum of Fine Art and spent most of our time admiring the Roman, Greek and Egyptian exhibits, as well as some of the works by El Greco. I was disappointed because they didn't offer headsets, but I didn't care. Bella clutched onto my hand and walked in peace with me around the museum. On our way back to the hostel, we stopped to pick up some dinner and bring it back to our room.

"You should have waited for me to pick the hostel," she said as we stepped into our tiny little room. It certainly wasn't the big suite we had in Vienna, but for two nights, it would be fine. There was a double bed in the middle, which actually didn't look very sturdy. In fact, it looked like it would break in half if we started to indulge in more aggressive love making. There were some ugly paintings on the wall, and a small little rug, but that was it. We were back to communal showers and I think we were both disappointed at this fact.

"There wasn't a lot of choice Bella. It was either this, or we shared a room with strangers," I said, feeling confident in my decision. She nodded her head in defeat as I threw my hands up in victory.

"Oh calm down," she said with a smile as she sat cross legged on our bed and opened up the Styrofoam container which held her chicken sandwich and french fries. "You didn't win the lottery; you won a disagreement about a hostel. Go Edward!" she mocked as she took a bite of a fry.

"I thought you would be proud that I made a travel decision for us. You are always giving me a hard time about never getting involved, so I got involved. You can't have it both ways Bella," I replied as I sat beside her and started to eat my hamburger and fries.

"I can't have it both ways? You mean I can't be on top and on bottom?" she said seductively as she slid a fry in and out of her mouth.

"Behave yourself Bella," I snapped in frustration. She had kept me hard almost all day and it was difficult to resist her now, but my stomach was overruling my dick, but with each bite of my hamburger, my dick was slowly winning. "What do you want to do tomorrow?" I asked, trying to change the topic to anything other than sex.

"You're the one with the map and the guidebook for Budapest. What do you want to do?" she asked in frustration. I didn't really care what we did, but to placate her, I suggested we go up to Castle Hill, where we could see the National Gallery and the Royal Palace. When we finally cuddled up to one another in bed that night, she was all over me. I wasn't even comfortable in the bed before Bella's hand slipped inside my shorts and grasped my cock.

"Hey, easy there champ," I said reluctantly as I rolled over and our bed creaked loudly. "If we even try to move this entire bed will break."

"So, don't you want to say you broke a bed in Budapest?" asked Bella with a sly grin. She certainly had a point, so even though our bed made the most atrocious and loud noises, we fucked like crazy for the next two hours. We heard several people yell at us in foreign languages, probably to shut up, but we couldn't tell. To our surprise, the bed didn't break. It just needed some WD-40.

We ended up spending the next day walking around Castle Hill, admiring the architecture and taking tons of pictures before ending up at the National Gallery, where we only spent a couple of hours checking out their collection. It was Saturday, so everywhere we went was pretty busy, especially the Royal Palace. It was only two in the afternoon when we were both satisfied with everything we had seen in town and we decided to get back to the hostel to get some laundry done before we left for the airport in the morning. Bella was still bitter about the fact that we were going to be flying instead of taking the train, but I had decided to block out her anger. She would be happier when we were in Greece, I told myself.

As she went to start a load of laundry, I hopped on the computer and checked my email, while also looking into boat charters in Athens. Of course, I wasn't shocked to see that Alice had replied to my previous email, especially since I had confessed my feelings to Bella in it.

_Edward,_

_I think I speak for the collective masses in the state of Massachusetts when I ask what the fuck drugs you are on? Are you seriously in love with this girl that you have known for almost four weeks?_

_Personally, I am happy for you, even if it is a bit unbelievable. I told Jasper, who told Emmett and Rosalie and everyone thinks you have gone crazy. Jasper says he's pissed that you won't come home early to help him move, but I for one thank you, because it means I get to keep him for a few extra weeks._

_Per usual, I just want to remind you to be safe and careful. I don't want to have to put the pieces of Edward back together if you suffer through some monumental break-up, so I hope you know what you are getting yourself into._

_-Ali_

_P.S. Are you in Paris yet?_

I sent Alice back a very lengthy email advising her not to worry about me. I wasn't worried, so why should she be? I let her know of our current travel plans and promised to keep her posted about Paris. Once I hit send, I leaned back in the chair and was slightly disappointed in my friends. Did they think that I was incapable of loving someone? Yeah, I was a bit of whore and asshole back in Boston, but I wasn't that way now. I tried to ignore it, citing the fact that they weren't here with us and couldn't see how Bella and I interacted together, but it was bugging me.

"Are you done yet?" asked Bella as she wandered from the laundry room and sat on my lap. "I've started all the laundry and was getting lonely."

"I'm sorry sexy, I was just emailing my sister. I also have to check something out in Athens, so give me a few more minutes?" I asked tentatively. I really didn't want her to be around as I looked up boat charters because I knew she would bitch and complain about it. Bella reluctantly got off my lap and headed back into the laundry room, grabbing a magazine along the way. I immediately looked online for some sort of boat we could charter for a day or two in order for us to see part of the Greek Islands. There was no way I would be able to convince her to do a seven day cruise, so I didn't even bother looking. I ended up booking us a one day excursion, which included lunch and dinner on the boat as well as the opportunity to go swimming and snorkeling. There was no way Bella could complain about this. I booked it for Tuesday and quickly paid the almost six hundred dollars for the service. It would be well worth it, I thought to myself as I closed the computer and went to join Bella. Once our laundry was all done, we ordered in some dinner and spent more time testing the springs on the creaky old bed.

We arrived at the Budapest airport a little earlier than necessary, but we thought it would be best to grab a bite to eat there when were weren't worried about getting to the airport. We checked our bags and had a quick breakfast at a small restaurant before heading over to our gate to wait till they allowed boarding.

"I first saw you at the gate at JFK, you looked so cute singing along to the music in your iPod," I said sincerely as we sat beside each other holding hands tightly.

"Oh my god. Was I actually singing?" Bella asked as her hand flew over her mouth in surprise.

"No, you were just mouthing the words. All American Rejects if I'm not mistaken," I said confidently. Of course I knew what band she was listening to that day; I had practically memorized every little thing about her. I knew she loved Fraggle Rock when she was younger, she had a little birthmark on the back of her left knee and she always smiled the biggest smile whenever I said I loved her, and I could only pray that I would get to see that smile for the rest of my life.

"Very good Edward," she said as she patted my head. "So, what did you think of me when you first saw me across the airport?"

"My first thought was that you were cute, but then I moved closer to you so I could sit in your row of chairs, and then I thought you were beautiful," I replied honestly as her big brown eyes stared at me in fascination. "What did you think about me?"

"I thought you were a stalker, but sexy. My first instinct was that you were going to try to kill me in London or something, but the more I talked to you on the flight I realized that you were just a misguided soul like me. I think that's one of the reasons I was going to go look for you at Buckingham Palace," she said with a tiny shy smile that practically lit up the room.

"You never told me you were going to come look for me?" I was shocked. She wanted to spend time with me too, but I never knew it. I officially found her more adorable than I thought possible.

"Oops," she started with a grin. "Yeah, I was about to leave the gallery to go and try to find you when you found me instead. You were probably waiting all day, just desperate to see me again huh?"

"Yeah, basically. I'm so glad I was so damned persistent. When I gave you that ultimatum at dinner, I really thought you were going to say 'fuck you' and just walk away, leaving me alone for the rest of the trip. I was pretty sad when I started to board the train and you weren't there," I admitted nervously. "But when I saw you run down the platform calling for me, I think I started to fall in love with you right there."

"I wouldn't change anything for the world," said Bella as she leaned up and gave me a gentle kiss, before moving further up and kissing my neck and earlobe. "Oh and by the way, I thought the ultimatum, the persistence and your forceful nature were really fucking hot that day." This girl certainly knew what she was doing to me.

**BPOV**

I was kind of glad to be leaving Budapest. That damned bed was giving me a headache with all its fricking squeaking. It was the worst form of torture while receiving the best form of pleasure. I wouldn't miss that bed at all. I was pretty excited when we finally landed in Athens, after a short layover in Zurich. I spent most of the flight trying to tempt Edward into stepping into the bathroom with me to join the mile high club, but he kept refusing. When I finally did end up going to the bathroom, I was relived he had turned me down. There was no way we could do anything comfortably in here. We would probably both end up with sore backs for the rest of the trip.

Edward had booked us a private room at the Athens Studios hostel and compared to the place we stayed at in Budapest, I felt like we were at the Waldorf Astoria. Just like in Vienna, we had our own little apartment with a bathroom, sink, fridge, TV and a big queen sized bed. It was heavenly. We unloaded our bags and sat down on the couch as Edward pulled out his new map of Athens and we tried to decide where to go to first.

"I saw a payphone in the lobby, so when we get back remind me to call my mom again, okay?" I asked Edward politely as he laid the map down on the coffee table and began to examine it closely.

"No problem sweetie," he said as he pointed to a few landmarks he wanted to go to. "We should definitely hit the Acropolis. There is no way we can be in Athens and not visit it. Plus, on Tuesday, I have something special planned, so we're losing one day of sightseeing." I nodded at him in curiosity. I figured he was planning something while we were here, but I decided not to stress about it and enjoy the surprise. Every other surprise he had given me had been beyond my wildest dreams, so I figured this would be too.

"Maybe we can hit the beach one day," I suggested casually. "We had a lot of fun at the beach in Copenhagen," I added as I leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Yeah, we could do the beach on Thursday or something. We are here till Sunday, so we have a lot of time on our hands. I think a nice relaxing day on the beach would be a good idea," he said nervously. He clearly was assuming we would be getting sexual like we had in the water in Copenhagen and he seemed anxious about it. I would have figured he would stop being so nervous about sex with me, seeing as I was practically throwing myself at him most days. "We should hit the National Art Gallery, too."

"It's almost two Edward, let's decide what we are going to do today," I suggested with a smile.

"Okay, let's go to the Acropolis first and then grab something for dinner. I'm dying for a good greek salad and some real feta cheese," he said with a grin as he folded his map back up and we grabbed my camera and purse and headed down to the lobby.

I eyed up the phone nervously as we walked through the lobby. I was going to have to call her when we got back from out sightseeing because it was way too early in the day for her to answer the phone. Calling around dinner time usually meant it was early morning for her. I could wait a bit longer to talk to her. We took cab to the site and spent almost three hours walking around and taking photos. We saw the Parthenon, which was on the western side of the site and a lovely couple from San Francisco offered to take some photos of Edward and I together, and he jumped at the chance. Once they had finished the photo, Edward looked at me with a big smile.

"Yeah I know, you want a copy," I said with a snicker as he wrapped his arm around my waist and we continued to explore. We were back at the hostel two hours later and I glared at the payphone as we walked through the lobby.

"Let's just get it over with Bella," sighed Edward as he noticed my reluctance. I grabbed a calling card from my purse as Edward pulled a chair over beneath the phone and sat down. He grabbed my hips and made me sit on his lap while I waited impatiently for my mom to answer. _Shit_, it was my dad.

"Hi Dad," I said nervously into the phone after he answered.

"Bells, it's so good to hear from you. Where are you today?" He seemed in a good mood, not as crabby or angry as I had expected.

"We're in Athens. We just arrived this morning," I said casually. Unfortunately, I could hear his teeth grinding, which meant happy go lucky Charlie was going away.

"Yes, your mom told me about your travel friend," he said in frustration.

"His name is Edward Dad. You'd really like him, and if mom told you about him than I hope she mentioned he was my boyfriend, not my travel friend," I replied sarcastically. My dad hated confrontation even more than I did, but I wasn't about to back down on the topic of Edward, especially when Charlie already knew everything and was just trying to play dumb.

"So, where were you before Athens?" he asked nervously as he changed the subject, for which I was grateful. I told him about Vienna, Budapest and Athens and he seemed to go back to normal, and I was pleased.

"So, where's mom?" I asked about ten minutes into our conversation as Edward reached up and began playing with my hair. It was tied back in a braid, and he had taken out the elastic and was slowly running his hands through it, to make it fall back against my shoulders.

"She's out at the Clearwaters. Harry had a heart attack a few days ago, and she's helping Sue around the house. Don't worry, Harry's gonna be good. They did bypass surgery on him on Thursday and he is expected to make a full recovery." I sighed in relief from his reassurances. The Clearwaters had been close family friends for as long as I could recall. We had spent several summer camping trips with them and the Black family until Mrs. Black passed away in a car accident after I turned twelve. Billy and Jacob Black stopped hanging around as much after that, but we were still just as close with the Clearwaters.

"Tell Sue and Harry that I'm thinking of them and let mom know I will call next Sunday and I will try to email her before then. Oh, and Dad, you really don't need to worry about me, everything is really good." I didn't think it would soothe his worries at all, but I had to try.

"Okay Bells, be safe and I love you," he said before he hung up. I never got a chance to tell him I loved him, but I would try to talk to him next week when I called again. He was a lot easier to talk to than my mom was during my phone calls.

Edward and I headed back to our room and I started to tell him about my call with my dad, and how easy it had been. "He didn't seem too excited to talk about me," said Edward with a laugh as he sat down on the couch and I crawled onto his lap.

"No, he didn't, but he also didn't fight me about it. He didn't say he was disappointed, he didn't tell me to come home and he didn't tell me to stay the hell away from you, so I'm calling it a small victory," I said as I raised my hands over my head in triumph. Edward's hands immediately used the opportunity to pull my shirt up and over my head, leaving me sitting on his lap in only my bra and shorts.

"You are so beautiful," said Edward as he ran his hands slowly across my sides and up to my breasts.

"Don't start something you can't finish, Edward," I said with a laugh as he reached up and unclasped my bra, letting it fall down my arms and onto the floor.

"Oh, I can finish it Bella. You've never once complained about my 'finishing' abilities," he said with a rough laugh as he grabbed my ass and lifted me up from him, lying me down on the couch and hovering above me.

Two hours and three orgasms later, Edward and I were lying on a heap in the middle of the living room floor laughing at some of the stupidest jokes I had ever heard. The punch line of his last joke had something to do with a talking muffin, but I wasn't paying attention anymore.

"Edward," I asked seductively as I ran my fingers gently over his naked chest. "What are we doing on Tuesday?"

"Nice try Bella. It's a surprise and I won't tell you even though you just gave me the world's best blowjob and some mind blowing sex," he said with a snicker.

"Pretty please?" I asked as I propped myself up on my elbow and tried to bat my eyelashes at him.

"You know I can't resist you Bella, but I really want it to be a surprise okay? How about I tell you that it's really romantic and you will need your bathing suit, does that appease you?" he asked curiously as he started to run his nose softly along my collarbones, down to my breasts.

"No, it makes me more curious," I huffed indignantly as his tongue reached out and slowly licked around my nipple. I wanted to make him stop, but instead we ending up going at it again on the floor. When we were finished both of us were too tired to even crawl into bed to go to sleep, so we ended up sleeping on an uncomfortable rug in the middle of the room, with a small blanket covering us, but I was happier than I had ever been in my life, and based on the smile across Edward's face when he slept, he was too.


	20. Athens

**A/N: Yes, another update. Now that 'Follow Through' is completed, I will be devoting more time to this lovely story. Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews, and everyone needs to calm down about the Columbia thing. Let's just let our lovebirds travel through Europe, even though I do mention it in this chapter.**

**Naomitron – thanks for the lovely review, and please feel free to promote any of my stories. I never have enough time for that stuff. I just do it because I enjoy writing.**

**Ohm and mmwalker, you are way off with your thoughts about Paris, although yes it will be very romantic. Remember, these are first year college students, no engagements in the near future. But always remember that I live for a happy ending! LOL**

**BPOV**

Tuesday morning couldn't come fast enough for me because I was dying to know exactly what Edward had planned for us. Based on all the previous events he had planned, I figured it would probably be very relaxed and romantic. We had a quick breakfast that morning and he packed a bag for us to take with some towels, sunscreen, both of our iPods, my camera and stuff like that.

"I thought you said we weren't going to the beach until Thursday?" I asked curiously as I watched him pull his swim trunks from his backpack and shove them into our small bag. "Should I get my bathing suit?"

"Yeah, pull it out and make sure you dress comfortably. Bring your sneakers and some shorts, maybe even a light sweater. I don't know," he said in frustration as he wandered around the room tugging on his hair gently. He was nervous, probably because he wanted to make everything perfect, not that it really mattered to me.

I stepped into our private bathroom to shower and then quickly dressed in a tight fitting white t-shirt and a pair of denim shorts. I didn't really have a light sweater, so I tossed a long sleeved t-shirt of Edwards into the bag and hoped that would suffice for whatever reason. I was sitting on our small couch waiting patiently for Edward when he came from the bathroom after his shower, just as frustrated as before. "You need to relax baby."

"I will relax when we get there," he said cryptically as he tossed on some knee length khaki shorts and a grey t-shirt. He slipped on his sneakers and looked at me expectantly. "Are you ready my lady?" I nodded my head and grabbed his hand as he led me from the room, clutching our bag of essentials. We stepped outside the hostel and flagged down a cab. Instead of telling the driver the address, Edward gave him a piece of paper with a small map on it and asked him to go there.

"You are so fricking sneaky Edward Cullen," I said as I squeezed his hand and he kissed me gently.

"It takes a lot of effort to surprise you Bella, so I hope you appreciate it, because I can't return it." I looked at him in confusion and decided to just relax in the back of the cab while I could. It took almost half an hour before we reached the southwestern edge of country, with the Ionian Sea directly in front of us. We pulled into a small harbor where Edward paid the cab driver handsomely before he grabbed my hand, which was holding onto our bag, and pulled me towards a decent sized sailboat.

"You did not get us a boat?" I yelled out incredulously.

"It's only for a today. Don't worry, it cost about the same as your lingerie," he said with a grin as he pulled me towards the dock where the boat sat. There was a man and woman waiting on board for us, both of them spoke perfect English and were extremely polite.

"Welcome aboard, The Angel, Mr. Cullen and Ms. Swan," said the captain with a polite nod. "I'm Erik, the captain and this is Elana. If you need anything today, please see either of us. Lunch will be served at twelve hundred hours and dinner will be at eighteen hundred hours. We should be back in the dock just before twenty two hundred hours. Do you have any questions right now?"

I glanced over at Edward and he had the biggest smile on his face. "No, I think that's it Erik. Bella and I will be down below until we're out onto the sea a bit more, and please call me Edward." He was so formal with the boat captain; it was actually turning me on. Elana helped us down to the cabin and showed us around quickly before she headed back to join Erik. After she had left, I looked around the boat in utter disbelief.

"This thing is huge," I said to Edward, feeling slightly uneasy about everything. "You spent way more than three hundred bucks on this thing, didn't you?"

"Does it really matter Bella? I was going to go sailing before you came into my life, so it's not a big deal. If anything, we've saved a bunch of money by not sailing through all of the Greek islands like I wanted to. We're just going for a day trip and some swimming," he said as he sat down on a nearby couch and pulled me onto his lap. "Sometimes I want to spoil you. Guys do enjoy spoiling the women they love you know."

"I know, I just don't want you do crazy expensive things like this. You know I would have been happy in a canoe with you, not an 80 foot sailboat," I told him honestly as he tightened his grip on my waist and I kissed him gently on the lips.

"You know, they won't bother us for a while. I can even lock the door and we can demonstrate our love for one another," said Edward with a mischievous grin. His hand immediately slid up underneath my t-shirt and began to massage my bra covered breast. I involuntarily threw my head back lightly in pleasure before remembering where I was.

"We are so not having sex on a boat," I replied as I swatted his hand away.

"Why not? We did it on a train," sighed Edward as he moved his hand to my thigh and started rubbing it slowly.

"We didn't do it on a train, we did everything but actual sex on the train," I corrected him. "Anyways, I kinda wanted to slip on my tiny white bikini and lay on the deck. Don't you want to rub lotion all over my body?" I stood from his lap and pulled my shirt off over my head and reached in my bag for my bathing suit. Edward was behind me almost immediately, his hands moving all over my bare stomach.

"Why can't I just rub myself all over your body?" He really was pretty damned irresistible, and when I turned around to face him, looking right into his sad puppy dog eyes he pulled out the big guns and started to pout. I sucked his bottom lip into my mouth and stopped fighting it. I pulled down his shorts and started to stroke his already hard shaft with my hand as he moaned gently from my movement. Before I even had a chance to comprehend it all, I was bent over the couch in the cabin of the boat, while Edward was buried deep inside me. There was no foreplay, no kissing and no declarations of love, but I loved it nonetheless. We tried to be as quiet as we could, but when I came I knew I yelled in pleasure a little too loudly than I should have. Luckily for me, Edward was twice as loud. He kissed me sweetly on the lips and then followed it up with a smack on my bare ass as I tried to pull my bathing suit on.

"Dick," I told him sarcastically as he walked away to get his swim trunks from the bag we had brought with us.

"Bella, you didn't complain one bit," he said confidently as he pulled his shorts on and came back over towards me, looking very guilty. "And don't think we won't be doing that again today," he whispered into my ear as I sighed breathlessly. Edward had this innate ability to turn me into mush and he knew it. It was only about ten minutes later when Erik called down from the top of the boat that we were almost in open water. Edward grabbed my camera, the sunscreen and our towels and helped me up to the top of the boat where Elana and Erik both had curious smiles on their faces. I blushed, but did my best to ignore them as Erik told us if we wanted to lie in the sun, the best part was on the bow of the boat, where it was relatively flat.

Edward grabbed my hand and led me towards the front of the boat, where it was indeed very flat. He laid our towels down and I slowly eased myself onto it, feeling a little uncomfortable being on the boat. I immediately felt warm as we sat there, so I pulled out the lotion and gently rubbed it all over Edward. There was no way in hell I was ruining this day with a damned sunburn, I told myself as I handed him the lotion so that he could make sure I was covered.

"Erik and Elana keep looking at us," commented Edward as he made me roll onto my stomach so that he could cover my back and legs with the sunscreen.

"Perhaps it's because they heard you fucking me in the cabin Edward? You weren't exactly quiet," I said with a laugh as I rolled back onto my back when he was finished. "They're probably just jealous. If they heard me at all, then they obviously know how talented you are."

"Bella, you can't say stuff like that and expect me not to ravish you right here," exclaimed Edward in frustration.

"Ok fine, I take it all back, you can't fuck worth a shit," I said with a grin as Edward leaned forward and kissed me fervently. "Ok, you're good."

We spent the next hour laying on our towels in the sun as Erik steered the boat further into open waters, which was a dazzling blue color and looked very inviting. "I feel like I'm in that song by The Lonely Island, you know the one where they sing about being on a boat," laughed Edward as I looked at him in utter confusion.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"There's a song by a group called 'The Lonely Island' and they sing this really funny song called 'I'm on a boat'. I think they are a bunch of guys from Saturday Night Live, anyways, it's hilarious and they sing all these funny lyrics about being on a boat. When we get back to the hostel, we're looking it up on YouTube," he explained happily. I propped myself up on my elbows and looked over at Edward. He was lying on his back, facing the clear blue sky and his eyes were closed. He had a small smile on his lips and he looked very content. For an instant I felt at home with him, and then my head went back to where it always did, Columbia, and a terrible feeling of foreboding washed over me. I was definitely fucked when I told him, and not in a good way.

**EPOV**

I honestly didn't think this day could get any better, I thought to myself as I lay on the boat and looked over at Bella, who looked happy. She didn't give me nearly as much trouble as I had expected when she saw the boat and realized we were going sailing for the day. She even fucked me down in the cabin only an hour earlier. Everything was perfect, absolutely wonderful. Part of me kept wondering when the other shoe was going to drop. Everything couldn't last like this forever, could it? I shook the thought from my head and decided to do my best to focus on today only.

I reached over and grabbed Bella's camera and took a few quick photos of her in her indecent bikini. Those were definitely getting framed and put beside my bed in my new place. She just laughed at me as I laid closer to her and took a quick photo of the two of us. It probably turned out shitty, but I didn't care, I would have Elana take a better one later in the day.

"Mr. Cullen, lunch will be ready in about an hour, is that alright?" asked Erik as I nodded my head eagerly. I was kind of getting hungry; I guessed my morning workout was probably to blame for that.

"What's for lunch?" asked Bella curiously as she turned onto her side and her breasts were practically calling my name, begging for me to touch them. I ran my fingers through my hair and tried to remember her question.

"Um, I think its chicken souvlaki or something equally Greek. I know there's a salad with kalamata olives and some sort of bread. I really didn't ask when I booked the boat, I just asked for Greek food," I said as I shrugged my shoulders.

"So, when do we get to go swimming?" asked Bella curiously as she batted her eyelashes at me. I turned onto my stomach and yelled back at Erik the same question. He informed us that we could go now if we wanted to. "Sounds good to me." I watched carefully as Bella stood from the towel and picked it up, taking it with her to the back of the boat where Erik was waiting. He had slowed the boat considerably and was about to drop the anchor when I stood up and lost my balance. I managed to compose myself before Bella saw me, but when I went to join her, she was laughing happily at the incident.

"You do realize that you are going to pay for laughing at me right?" I laughed as I put my arms around her and we waited patiently for Erik to give us the thumbs up. We only had to wait a few minutes, and the moment he said we were good to go, I swept Bella up in my arms and jumped into the water with her. I had thought about tossing her in by herself, but she probably would have been so pissed that she would cut me off from sex for a while, and I didn't think I could handle that.

"You suck Edward Cullen," shrieked Bella when she resurfaced from the water, pushing her hair back from her face. I stayed put, treading water around her as she tried to swim away from me. Erik and Elana had gone down into the cabin, so it was just the two of us.

"You like it when I suck Bella Swan," I replied sarcastically as she pushed away from me and swam further away from the boat, with me following close behind. "Slow down Bella," I called out to her a few moments later. She stopped and laid herself back in the water, floating on top. She looked relaxed and gorgeous, but I wasn't surprised. When I finally caught up with her, she repositioned herself so that she was upright in the water and I wrapped my hands around her waist, pulling her close to me. "Care for a repeat of Copenhagen?" I asked nervously as I ran my finger along the inner seam of her bikini bottom. I was about to move my finger under the white fabric when Bella tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around. Erik was standing on the deck trying to get our attention.

"He has bad timing, but I bet lunch is ready," sighed Bella as she kissed my lips and then swam back to the boat quickly. I wasn't as fast as her, because I spent the entire time trying to force my hard on to go away. I watched intently as Bella climbed the ladder onto the boat and quickly wrapped herself in a towel as Erik helped her sit down for lunch on the back deck. A few minutes later, I joined them and we had an awesome lunch, with everything I had mentioned to Bella earlier. Apparently my memory was better than I thought.

Once lunch was over, Erik pulled up the anchor and we set sail again. Bella and I decided to go and lay on the bow of the boat and before either of us knew it, we were asleep in each other's arms. I woke up a little while later and when I moved slightly, Bella shot up, her eyes wide in shock. "What's wrong?" I asked anxiously. She looked petrified.

"Nothing, bad dream is all. Can we go swimming again?" she asked tentatively and I turned back towards Erik who agreed that we could anchor again soon to go swimming.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked as I stroked her long damp hair off of her shoulders and down her back.

"Yeah, nothing a little swimming with you won't cure." She was lying, I could tell because she wasn't looking me in the eye. I didn't want to push the subject because we had been having an excellent day thus far, but I wasn't going to let it slide that she had lied. Something was definitely bothering her and I was going to get to the bottom of it eventually.

We ended up having some awesome hamburgers for dinner and Erik and Elana joined us at our insistence. They were actually pretty interesting and funny. They were dating, which made me laugh even more when they told us.

"You two must have been together since grade school right?" asked Elana of Bella and I. I watched with a grin as Bella threw her head back and was laughing so loud she was practically howling. When she had stopped, she took a quick bite of her burger and stared at me for a response.

"Actually, we met about a month ago in New York City. We were both travelling through Europe for two months, and decided to do it together. We met on June 23rd and what's today… July 25th or something right?" I answered anxiously.

"So you guys are in love and dating, but you've only known each other a month?" asked Erik as he raised an eye brow in curiosity and ate a bit of his salad.

"Yeah," I said with a sigh. "Unfortunately, we when we both go back to America we're going to have to do the long distance thing for a while, but I love her enough to try." Elana looked over at me sympathetically, but with a big smile.

"See, that's love right there," she commented as she picked up her plate and headed down to the cabin to start cleaning up. I glanced over at Bella and she was focused on finishing her dinner, she looked like she hadn't even heard the rest of the conversation.

It was just before ten when we reached the dock, our boat trip finally over. Bella claimed she had enjoyed everything, but I was still worried about her dream. We thanked Erik and Elana for their hospitality and I gave him an additional tip for all of his help. He was very grateful and wished us a great life together, as I grabbed our bag and Bella stopped for a moment to put on a long sleeved t-shirt. I wrapped my arms around her to keep her from getting cold as we walked over to our cab that was waiting for us, which Elana had called for us on her cell phone.

"Is this mine?" I asked as I pulled at the fabric of the shirt she was wearing.

"Maybe," she laughed as she slid into the back seat of the car and I sat beside her. I gave the address to the cab driver as Bella snuggled up beside me and laid her head on my shoulder. "Today was awesome Edward."

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. It's not every day you can go sailing and swimming in the Greek Isles," I said with a smirk. I was glad I had given Bella this memory, because if we ever did split up, she would always remember today, and how much I loved her.


	21. Athens to Rome

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for their comments and reviews on the last chapter.**

**Melferd – your review had me laughing my ass off. If only it could be so easy! How about I promise steamy aggressive make up sex no matter when the reveal happens? Which should be in a few chappies… I just can't have them upset in France. I can't do it to myself LOL. I want to live vicariously through their romantic adventures in Paris.**

**Please remember I'm all about the happy ever after. Just cause there's trouble a brewing, doesn't mean there won't be some serious loving going down. Here's my concept of Bella, she's scared out of her mind. She's found love, first love at that, and she doesn't want to lose him, which is why she hasn't said anything. She is automatically assuming that no matter when or what she says to Edward to tell him about Columbia, he will break her heart. She's just trying to hold on to what she has, for however long she can.**

**BPOV**

"So, where to next?" asked Edward as we sat down at the computers and immediately pulled up our emails after we got back to the hostel from the beach on Thursday night. I was surprised to see I had five of them awaiting me, and even more surprised that two of them were from our old family friend Jacob Black. I ignored those and immediately checked out the one from Angela.

_Hey Bella,_

_Where are you now? Did you parents tell you about Harry Clearwater? He's doing pretty good according to my mom. She was on shift at the hospital when they brought him in. Anyways, I trust you and Edward are doing fine. I thought if there was any major drama, you would have probably called. _

_Oh, on a side note, I ran into Jacob Black a few days ago. He wanted to know how to get in touch with you, and when I told him you were in Europe, he was pretty surprised. I thought your families were friends? Anyways, I gave him your email address, I hope you don't mind._

_Miss You_

_Ang_

Well that certainly explains the emails. I hadn't talked to Jacob in years and wasn't really eager to talk to him now, even if it was through email. I read his emails quickly but didn't respond. They were both short emails saying 'hi' and wanting to know if we could talk when I got home from Europe. _Not bloody likely_, I thought to myself as I glanced over at Edward who was checking out hostels in Italy.

"So, we're going to Italy?" I asked curiously as I ran my fingers through his hair and leaned over his shoulder to get a better view of his computer screen.

"Why not? We can probably take a boat from Athens right over to Venice or something. We can't take a train, well we could but we would be going way out of our way. I should just hire Erik and Elana to take us there," he said, sounding serious. I looked over at him incredulously.

"Are you kidding me that would cost way too much. We'll just hop on a ferry or something. I'll look up some specifics and you can email your sister. It's probably been too long since you emailed her," I suggested sweetly as I pulled up the first website I could about ferries. All of them had crazy long travel times and we couldn't even leave from Athens. So I immediately changed to Travelocity and tried to find us a cheap flight. I wasn't going to spend 30 hours traveling to Italy. I could swim there faster. "We're flying there."

"What?" asked Edward curiously as he turned from his email to stare at me.

"We can fly there in 2 hours, or we can take a ferry that will take us 30 hours. It's only a hundred and fifty bucks from Athens to Rome, and we can catch a flight out at six thirty tomorrow night. Is that good with you?" I asked him politely even though I knew he wouldn't say no to me. He nodded his head and I quickly made the reservations, and then began looking up hostels. I ended up booking up a 3 night stay at a hostel called the 'Funny Palace' which made me laugh. We ended up with a private room with a queen sized bed, so I knew we would both be happy with our room. "Are you almost done?"

It had been almost an hour since Edward started his email to his sister. I watched him nervously as he hit send and grabbed my hand, leading us back to our room in silence. "So, is everything set for Rome?" he asked a few minutes after we got into our room. I nodded and began to explain to him the flight details and the hostel that I had booked. He seemed pleased with all the arrangements and stepped into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

When we were finally cozy in bed, I decided to ask him about his email. "Is everything okay with Alice?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah, there's just some stuff going down at home that she told me about and it took me a while to figure out my response to her," he said casually as he pulled me closer to him, his free hand running through my hair.

"You can talk to me about anything you know. If you want to talk about it, I'm here," I offered sweetly, hoping he might provide a little more insight into what was going on at home. I didn't know why I was pushing him about this. After all, I had several major issues yet to discuss with him, particularly Columbia and Jacob Black.

"How is Angela?" Edward was very good at deflecting the topic away from himself and I told him about Harry Clearwater and then decided to mention Jacob.

"He's an old family friend that emailed me out of the blue, it was very weird," I stated casually as I looked over at Edward who appeared to me fuming.

"What did he want?" he asked, trying to sound relaxed but it came out forced. Apparently jealous Edward was making a brief resurgence.

"He wants to talk to me when I get home. I hope he's planning to apologize for not talking to me for three years, but who knows," I said as I shrugged my shoulders.

"So, you're gonna get together with him back in Forks?"

"I don't know. I don't want to, but I was very close friends with him for years. I should at least given him a chance to try to explain himself right?" I asked, trying to gauge Edward's reaction. He was definitely jealous.

"Maybe I should go home to Forks with you before I head to New York?" he suggested as I sat up in bed and looked down at him in surprise. "You know, to meet your family and friends. I'll have plenty of time to pack for NYU."

"Are you crazy? Right now, my parents don't particularly like you or the fact that we are traveling together. I don't think a visit to Forks is a good idea." He looked disappointed, but I was a little shocked he had even asked in the first place. He just nodded his head and pulled me back down to the bed to cuddle with him. I was upset with myself.

How could I tell him about Jacob, but not tell him I would be in New York City in a month. Why did I have to focus my thoughts on only the bad things? Edward loves me, if I tell him about New York, he will obviously welcome me with open arms and we will simply continue the relationship, won't we? I shook the thought from my head and laid my head on his chest, forcing myself to sleep, only to wake up a few hours later with my usual nightmare, where Edward breaks up with me because I couldn't be honest with him. In every single dream, he yells at me constantly and his face turns dark and distant, he doesn't even look like the same Edward I fell in love with. I always wake up panting for air and desperate for everything to go away. I had resigned myself to tell Edward about Columbia as soon as I could muster up the strength, for my own sanity.

The next morning I headed down to the common area to start some laundry while Edward ran out to get us some breakfast. We sat in the laundry room together enjoying our egg mcmuffins and hotcakes from McDonalds, talking casually about what we wanted to do in Rome. Edward had picked up a map of Rome while he was out and we were reviewing it. He was open to all suggestions, but there was one place he really wanted to go to.

"We have to go to the Colosseum Bella. Jasper and Emmett would probably kill me if we didn't. We've been obsessed with the movie Gladiator since it came out, even though we were technically too young to watch it. We used to act it out in our backyard and sometimes we still quote the damned thing, so we have to go there. I need photographic proof for those idiots I call my best friends," he said with a gentle laugh. I imagined him his backyard when he was eleven playing Gladitor with his friends, it was probably very cute.

"Okay, the Colosseum it is. I also want to go to St. Peter's and the Vatican, the Pantheon and then I'll have to research art galleries online. I'm not sure which ones I want to visit," I said casually as Edward reached over and started to run his fingers along the back of my hand slowly. I shivered from his touch and lost all focus on what we were talking about.

The next morning we woke in Rome and I looked over at Edward while he slept. He looked so happy and peaceful, so I slowly removed myself from the bed and headed down to the common area to email Angela. I sent her a long email confessing that I still hadn't told Edward about Columbia and that I was petrified to tell him. I knew it wasn't going to be good and I didn't want any of this to end, unfortunately, I also didn't think I could convince him to backpack across Europe for the rest of our lives, so the confrontation was inevitable. I begged for her advice and decided to wait until I heard back from her before I talked to Edward about college.

**EPOV**

When I rolled over, Bella was nowhere to be found. I got out of bed and peeked into the bathroom, but nothing. She probably just went out to get coffee, I told myself as I lay back in bed and waited for her. She came back half an hour later, looking very stressed and without any coffees.

"Where have you been?" I asked politely, only to have her turn around and snap at me.

"I didn't know I needed to provide a detailed account of my every movement," she said angrily as she walked into the bathroom, locking the door behind her and getting into the shower. Someone clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I tossed on some sweatpants and a t-shirt and headed to grab us a quick breakfast while she got ready for the day. When I came back, she was still in the shower, so I sipped on my coffee on the couch of our room and waited. All I could think about was reasons for her to be upset. Had she checked her email and gotten another unwanted one from Jacob? Had her mom contacted her again and made comments about our relationship and how she didn't agree with it? Had something more serious happened at home? Was she mad at me? I sat there for half an hour over analyzing every possible scenario before she came out, completely dressed and ready to hit the town.

"It's all yours," she said casually as she shoved a few items into her backpack and reached for the coffee I brought her.

"I don't want to go anywhere until you tell me what's wrong," I said in frustration as she sat down on a nearby chair and glared at me. "Did I do something? Did something happen at home? Does this have to do with your nightmares?"

"No, no and no, okay Oprah? How about you just go shower and we can go see the Colosseum today?" she replied irately. She took small sips of her coffee and watched me as I didn't even move an inch from the couch.

"No, you keep lying to me and it's pissing me off. First you lie that everything was fine on the boat, when you clearly had a nightmare. Then this morning, you snap at me when I ask where you were, and you still didn't tell me where you went. Now you're acting like nothing is wrong but there is clearly something wrong. I'm just trying to be a considerate boyfriend and offer help Bella," I said sweetly as I moved to crouch between her legs, putting my hands on her thighs.

"I'm fine really. I think maybe it's just PMS or something like that. I'm sorry I snapped at you this morning, I was out checking my email down in the lounge. Thank you for the coffee by the way," she said sweetly as I looked up in her eyes and saw she was being sincere. "My nightmares are nothing I can't get over, so please don't worry."

"Of course I worry about you Bella. That's what happens when you're in love with someone, you worry about them." She nodded her head in agreement and I decided to take it easy on her for now, but I was certain this wasn't the end of our conversations on this topic. After I showered and got dressed, she seemed to be in better spirits, so we headed down to the Colosseum. We opted to pay a little bit extra for a guided tour in English, and it was almost as good as having a headset in an art gallery. Bella listened carefully to the tour guide, while I spent most of the time snapping pictures to show my boys back home. It was just before dinner time when we left, so we decided to just go for a walk through the ancient part of Rome and find somewhere to eat. We ended up eating a delicious wood fired pizza that was ten times better than any pizza we could get back in the U.S.

After dinner, we took a cab back to our hostel and quickly got ready for bed, Bella however, didn't seem eager for sleep. "I think we should find out more about each other," she said nervously as I looked down at her and began running my fingers along her bare midriff.

"Ask me anything you want," I said succinctly. She looked at me with a small smile and started in with the questioning, apparently she had been thinking about this for a while.

"Why did you honestly want to come to Forks with me?"

"I don't want you to see Jacob," I said swiftly. I hadn't even had time to process it before it fell from my mouth. "I'm sure he's just some old family friend or whatever, but I don't know the guy, and I am jealous. I don't want anyone to know you the way I know you."

"Do you think I would even consider being with someone else?" she asked genuinely. Her eyes clearly illustrated that she was in love with me, but I still felt insecure in our relationship.

"No, I don't. I know you love me, but I don't trust other guys. I also doubt my abilities in our relationship; you are my first REAL girlfriend Bella. I don't know if I am doing this right. I never had to worry about second dates or flowers or dinners, I worried about whether I got off and that was it. That was my relationship with women in the past." I looked over at her and she looked disappointed. I guess I shouldn't have told her I usually left the room before the condom came off.

"You have been nothing but the perfect boyfriend Edward. Every single thing you have done as been wonderful, so you shouldn't doubt that."

"What are your nightmares about?" I asked boldly. I looked over at Bella, my fingers now lightly tracing around her belly button and she let out a sigh.

"They're about us not being together." I pulled her close to me, wrapping my arms around her tightly.

"That isn't going to happen Bella. You're stuck with me forever." I said with a smile as I felt her nuzzle closer to me.

"You know, when I suggested asking questions, I was originally looking for info like who your favorite concert was," she said with a laugh.

"Oh, well that would be the Foo Fighters. I saw them with Jasper like two years ago. They were awesome. What is yours?"

"Hmm… Angela and I saw Ryan Adams in Seattle just before I flew out, he was good. We saw the Foo Fighters at a festival in Port Angeles, and they were pretty good… you're right." I looked down at Bella and she smiled, more like she used to before we got to Rome, so I kept going with the odd questions.

"Who is your favorite president?" I asked, selecting the most random question I could think of.

"Well, I got to vote for Obama, so I'll say him. It was very liberating to be able to vote for the first time." I nodded my head and waited for her next question. She had wrapped her leg around mine, and her body heat felt electric against me.

"What's your favorite video game?"

"Oh, I love to play Simpsons Hit and Run with Jasper on his old Xbox. It's hilarious, I love all the little comments they make. Plus, I usually kick his ass. He's been teaching Alice this summer, so I'm sure when I get back they will gang up on me and kick my ass together." I got quiet for a moment and was a little sad thinking about what I was missing back home this summer. Though I was having an awesome time with Bella, I wished they could be here to enjoy it with us. "Do you have a favorite board game?"

"I'm excellent at Operation. Jacob used to joke with me that I should be a surgeon because I was so good at getting the little bread basket and the funny bone." I cringed at the mention of Jacob, but let it go, because Bella was having such a good time. "What was your first concert ever?"

"Alice dragged me to n'Sync with her. My parents wouldn't let her go unless I went with her. It was funny because they had a chauffeur take us to and from the arena. Alice had a good time, so that was all that mattered. Please don't tell anyone, she was twelve when we went. Alice and I have an agreement that it will never be mentioned again."

"I wouldn't tell anyone my boyfriend saw n'Sync. How embarrassing is that?" I punched her lightly on the shoulder and she kept laughing at me.

**A/N: I hope everyone doesn't hate me but I have to show how tormented Bella is by all of this. I know you are all just as tormented, but hang in there. I think it's worth it.**


	22. Rome to Venice

**A/N: As per usual, I need to thank everyone for their awesome reviews. People have asked if the reveal about Columbia will be coming soon… and it will be, but it's probably like four to five chapters away. I want to infuse a little romance into the new few cities before the shit hits the fan. LOL**

**Melferd and mmwalker, I promise aggressive make up sex, just be patient. If it helps, there should be some more sex in the next chapter, as foreshadowed at the end of this chapter!**

**Enjoy! **

**BPOV**

"Cara what?" asked Edward for the third time as he stared at a renaissance painting on the wall in confusion.

"Why aren't you listening to your headset? You paid like ten bucks for those," I sighed as I looked at him in frustration. "It's Caravaggio. The work is called 'David with the Head of Goliath' and it's a very important piece of work in Italian history and biblical history, I might add." Edward just nodded at me and moved over to the next piece. He was trying to annoy me by questioning every single piece of art he looked at and it was working beautifully. We had been walking around the Borghese Gallery for almost two hours now and Edward spent most of the time driving me mad. "Okay listen, you can always go back to the hostel if you don't want to be here."

"I want to be with you. It's just too nice of a day to spend it inside at an art gallery," pleaded Edward with a small pout. I was not giving in this time, I gave in on the boat in Greece and it was not happening now.

"If we left, what would we do? It's not like there are any beaches nearby. You just want to go lay in the sun for hours?" I stepped from the exhibit and walked down a long hallway with Edward on my heels.

"We don't even have to go far. There's a nice park right across the street. I'm certain there's a shady tree there calling our name. I'll buy us gelato," he added with a smirk. He knew I loved gelato and in Italy there were only two things that I found irresistible, Edward Cullen and gelato.

"We have two more exhibits to see, let's just see them and then you can get me gelato and molest me under the shade of a tree in the park, alright?" I said with a small grin. We finished up in the gallery half an hour later and I used my broken Italian to ask a woman outside the doors where the nearest place to get gelato was. She pointed us in the direction of the shop and Edward grabbed my hand quickly, pulling me behind him.

"This one is perfect," said Edward as he sat himself beneath a large tree in Villa Borghese Park. I sat on his lap and quickly took a spoonful of his gelato before he could notice. The tree we were sitting against overlooked a small lake in the middle of the park, and it was a wonderful view.

"If you're not going to share your gelato Bella, you shouldn't be stealing mine," he said in frustration as I laughed at him.

"I'll share a little bit of it," I said with a mischievous grin as I put a bit on my lip and kissed him deeply.

"What if I want more than that?" he asked seductively. I leaned in for another kiss, his hand reaching behind my neck and pulling me closer to him. Before I knew it, my gelato spoon was out of my hand.

"Hey, you're a cheater," I yelled at him as he took a big scoop of my gelato and ate it greedily.

"Mmm that was delicious. If I'm a cheater than you're a tease Bella," he state confidently as he kissed me again and handed back my spoon. "It was worth facing your wrath to try your gelato, it was very good." When we had finished our desserts, Edward grabbed my camera from my purse and quickly took a few photos of the lake and the park, followed by one of us snuggling together against the tree. We spent the next hour talking about our drastically different high school experiences.

"The public school system in Washington couldn't have been that bad Bella?"

"Says the guy who went to a private school and lived in a dorm on campus. You were probably the big man on campus right? All the girls were after you?" I was being factious when I spoke, but Edward blushed suddenly and I realized I had hit the nail on the head. "I was kidding, but I'm right aren't I?"

"Not all the girls were into me. There was a small faction of lesbians and feminists who never seemed to care much for me," he replied with a laugh. "But yeah, Jasper and I were sorta popular at school. A lot of girls were disappointed when Alice and Jasper started to get serious, even though I knew it was inevitable. He would come over when I wasn't home to hang out. At least he manned up and made sure Emmett and I had no problems with him dating her."

"How many girlfriends did you have in school?"

"I already told you Bella, I didn't have serious girlfriends. I dated and slept around, and that was it." I nodded my head in agreement and realized I shouldn't have asked that again. He was honest with me about his past, so I couldn't hold it against him.

"Did you date Jacob?"

"What? Hell no. Like I said, I haven't even talked to him in like three years. Our families were pretty close when I grew up, and then his mom died in a car accident and he shut everyone out. I have no idea why he wants to see me." Thankfully, we moved onto happier topics like school dances and prom, where Edward informed me he got so drunk and high he puked on his date's dress. "That's my boyfriend. You are so classy."

"I wouldn't have done it if you were my date. Mind you, I would have rented us a room and spent most of the night making love to you," he said with a big smile. "Speaking of renting a room, I was thinking that I could get us an honest to goodness hotel room in Paris, for our joint birthday celebration that we will be having." I nodded in defeat as his face lit up. We had discussed this on and off for two weeks now. He really wanted to do something special, which in my opinion meant pricey, for our birthday. His was in June and mine was in September, so we agreed to celebrate together in August before we flew home. He was so excited about it, I couldn't let him down. If there was one thing I didn't want to do, it was disappoint Edward.

"So it's set. We're staying in a hotel for the week we're in Paris. My father will be so impressed I got a hotel room," he said with a reluctant sigh. I ran my fingers through his hair and kissed his cheek.

"You know I hate it right?" Edward just nodded his head and kept smiling.

After tonight, we only had one night left in Rome, so when we got back to our hostel, we hopped online and tried to find somewhere to go next. I checked my email and there was nothing back from Angela yet, so I was pretty disappointed, but there was one from Jacob. I decided to write him quickly to get him to leave me alone.

_Jacob,_

_I don't know why you feel the need to repair our friendship now, but I don't think it's a good idea to see you when I am home in a few weeks. I will have way too much to do to get ready for college. I hope you have a good time at whatever school you go to._

_Take Care,_

_Bella_

That was short and simple. I think he would clearly get the message that I wasn't interested in whatever he had to say. I also noticed another email from my mother and realized I should give her a quick call since it was Sunday. As Edward checked out train schedules, I pulled out a calling card and stepped over to the payphone to call my mom.

"Hi Mom," I said casually as she picked up the phone.

"Bella, it's so good to hear from you. How is Europe? I am so sorry I missed your call last week," sighed Renee heavily. She sounded happy to hear from me but she also sounded tired, which concerned me a bit.

"I'm in Rome mom, can you believe it? It's awesome. Edward and I are having a wonderful time."

"That's brilliant Bella. Jacob was here last week looking for you. Did he email you?" she asked inquisitively. Great, someone else who just had to mention Jacob to me.

"Yes mom, he emailed me. I sent him one back just before I called you actually, so don't worry about it." Okay, so she didn't need to know that I basically told him to screw off, but I didn't care. She dropped the subject just like I thought she would.

"You got some stuff from Columbia about your dorm arrangements, apparently you're going to be rooming with someone named Rosalie Hale."

"Thanks for opening my mail mom. Isn't that illegal? Did Dad yell at you for it?" I asked in frustration. I had told them not to open anything while I was away, but my mother never seemed to listen.

"Actually Bella, your father opened it. He was worried there might be something inside that you needed to respond to before you got home. Everything is fine though. Where are you guys off to next?" My mom sounded a bit tense on the phone, but I was thinking hard about the name Rosalie. It sounded very familiar to me and I couldn't understand why. I tried not to worry about it too much as I listened to my mom drone on about a Tupperware party she went to with Angela's mother.

"I think we're going to head to Venice next. We need to make a decision tonight since tomorrow night is our last night in Rome. I am thinking of heading over to Spain or Portugal after Venice, but I need to discuss it with Edward first, we are taking it one city at a time."

"I hope you two are taking everything one step at a time and that you aren't moving too fast," she said nervously. I was almost expecting her to start telling me about the birds and the bees, but she stopped. "This isn't a long term relationship Bella, I hope you realize that."

"You are the only one that thinks that mom. Edward and I certainly don't. So, it was nice to talk to you Mom. I'll call again next Sunday," I said as I hung up and turned back to Edward with a forced smile on my face.

"Everything okay?" he asked sweetly as I sat back in the chair beside him and he rubbed my back gently.

"Yeah, everything's good," I lied.

**EPOV**

While Bella was on the phone with her mom, I checked out the train schedule and found us a decent train to Venice on Tuesday morning. I was about to book a hostel when she got off the phone and came back to sit beside me, looking rather upset, though she insisted she was fine.

"How long do you want to stay in Venice?"

"I think three nights is good. Then we can leave on the Friday for our next destination." I nodded my head and then googled a few possible choices while Bella sat beside me tapping her foot on the floor nervously.

"You can head to our room if you want. Once I've finished booking the hoste,l I want to send Alice a quick email, if that's okay with you?" Bella stood from her seat and gave me a quick peck on the cheek.

"I don't take too long otherwise I might be asleep when you get there," she said with a sly wink before she turned around and headed up the stairs to our room. I checked my email the moment I was done and saw an email from Jasper and one from Alice. Interesting. It took Jasper almost a month and a half to finally send me an email, so of course I opened his first.

_Dude, how is life in Europe? Lots of crazy shit has been going on since you left. Jessica got in a car accident two days after Alice told her you were dating someone. Since she's going to be fine, I decided to find the situation funny and have laughed about it at every possible opportunity. Emmett doesn't want to go back to Yale anymore and the shit has hit the fan with your grandfather, so that's been entertaining. Apparently he wants to move to New York and get a place with us, so I need to know what you want to do. On campus or off campus bro, you tell me. –Jazz_

Great, Rosalie's probably going to school somewhere in New York and Emmett can't handle the commute to see her from Yale. I knew this was inevitable, I was just hoping to avoid it. I sent him a quick email back saying I didn't really care and that if Emmett desperately wanted to live with us than off campus was fine with me as long as I got my own bedroom. I opened Alice's email next and she mentioned some of the same items that Jasper had mentioned, but not everything was the same.

_Edward,_

_We miss you around here. Our drinking games are not nearly as much fun with only four people. Emmett is leaving Yale and trying to transfer to Columbia to be closer to Rosalie, no surprises there. She's sharing a room on campus though, and I immediately feel bad for whatever roommate gets her._

_Mom and Dad are heading to London next week, so you're lucky because you'll miss them before you get there to head home. They keep promising that they will be around for the end of year party before you and Jasper, and now Emmett, head to New York._

_As for all the questions you asked in your last email, well, you are definitely over thinking everything. Bella obviously likes you otherwise she wouldn't be around. You aren't that easy to get along with, so she must definitely love you. I think you should stop thinking too hard about the future and just enjoy the rest of your time in Europe. It will be over before you know it._

_Love You_

_Alice_

_P.S. I ordered the handbag directly from Louis Vuitton. You need to get to their flagship store in Paris to pick it up by August 20__th__, or else they will sell it to someone else. GET TO PARIS BIG BROTHER,_

I sighed after reading Alice's email, but I knew she was right. I had to stop over thinking everything and do my best to enjoy the time I had left with Bella before we went our separate ways. I wrote Alice back a quick email telling her I flew out of London on the 19th, so there would be no trouble for me to pick up the damned purse. She was becoming a royal pain in the ass about this fricking thing. I hit send, shut off the computer and went to where I was supposed to be, with Bella.

The next morning we woke up and after our joint shower and breakfast, we headed to see the Vatican. It was really a sight to behold and I was glad Bella dragged me down here on our last full day in Rome. I probably took at least two dozen photos of St. Peter's alone. We spent a few hours wandering the grounds and checking out all the sights before deciding to the Modern Center to see the Trevi Fountain. We ended up having a quick lunch there before deciding to walk around town for a little while, just enjoying ourselves.

"So, Emmett's transferring to Columbia," I said casually as we walked hand in hand through Via Veneto, checking out some of the small souvenir shops. Bella looked over at me in complete surprise, but kept walking.

"Isn't he at Yale? Why would he switch?" she asked curiously.

"His girlfriend is going to Columbia and he doesn't want to be apart from her. Apparently last year was a wee bit too hard on him," I said with a laugh. Hard was probably an understatement. He was always being picked up by chicks at the bar and it took all his willpower to say no. I had spent too many a night listening to him tell me how hot some of girls were that he had to turn down. When he wasn't rejecting various women, he was worrying about the guys that were trying to hook up with Rosalie back at school. He made me and Jasper stick as close to her as possible, which wasn't hard since she and Alice are best friends and Jasper was always stuck to Alice's side.

"Oh… well it will be nice to have two more friends in New York." I nodded my head as we walked into a small store and Bella picked up a few small gifts and gawked at the price. "My lingerie cost less than this," she said with a frown as she put down a small ceramic trinket that she had been looking at. I shrugged my shoulders indifferently and dragged her from the store and back towards our hostel.

"Yeah, I suppose it will be good. He wants to move in with me and Jasper though. We had an on-campus room together, but now they're going to try to find us an apartment together, which will no doubt suck on such short notice," I said with a grimace as Bella rubbed her hand up my arm.

"Everything happens for a reason. It will work out just fine," she said sweetly as she kissed my hand and I flagged down the next available cab to take us to our room. It was just before five when we got back to our room and Bella checked her email, but had no new responses. She looked pretty disappointed as we climbed back up the stairs discussing what to do with the rest of our evening. Our train to Venice was due to leave at eight in the morning, so we both wanted to get to bed early. I ran down the street and picked us up some sandwiches for dinner, which we ate while dressed in our pajamas and sitting on our bed. It was very casual and Bella seemed completely back to normal. We lay in bed together and cuddled while talking about anything that came to mind.

"If you had a dog, what would you name it?" she asked me as she ran her fingers across my bare chest.

"I do have a dog. His name is Huxley. I didn't name him, Alice did, so don't ask where it came from. He's a Yorkie and is always barking. Personally, I can't stand the thing and I don't think it likes me much either. It's basically Alice's dog and the only people the dog likes are Alice and Japer. It's just weird," I said with a laugh as I recalled the crazy dog my parents insisted was for the entire family. Emmett and I laughed when they brought it home and it's been Alice's ever since. "What is your favorite Rolling Stones song? I love 'Salt of the Earth'"

"I have two… Brown Sugar and Wild Horses. They totally remind me growing up cause my parents were big Stones fans," she replied with a wistful sigh.

"I guess you miss home huh?" I asked as I ran my fingers through her long hair and then along the length of her arm.

"Yeah, I miss it, but it's good for me. Soon I'll be in college and even though it's closer than Europe, I will be away for a much longer period of time. I think this trip was a great way to get me adjusted to moving out on my own." I kissed her forehead and pulled her closer to me in our embrace. Her leg hitched up onto mine and I pulled the covers over us, so that we could get ready for bed. "Do you miss home?"

"Not really," I replied honestly. "I don't have a relationship with my parents like you do. Sure, I miss Alice and Jasper, but I'm not worried about them. We may be spoiled rich kids, but we take care of our own. Emmett, Alice, Jasper and I have been together through thick and thin. We always had each other's backs. Even now with Em's girlfriend Rose, she's just joined our group last year, but she was a perfect fit. My friends are my family. My friends and you," I said with a grin as she laid her head on my chest.

"If you could play any sport professionally, what would you play?" she asked with a bright smile and we immediately fell back into our easy questioning. I told her how I would like to be able to play Hockey, just because it looked fun and she laughed at me. After another hour of questions, Bella fell asleep nuzzled next to me. I whispered 'good night' to her and let sleep take me, finally feeling content for the first time in a few days.

We woke up a little bit late the next morning and quickly packed our bags before hailing a cab and heading to the station to catch our train to Venice. Edward grabbed a map of Venice from the station and we intended to review it while we travelled, but we both ended up sleeping on the train and before we realized it we were in Venice, four and a half hours later. We quickly dropped our bags off at our hostel and headed out to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. Bella was extremely excited when we entered the building.

"She was married to Max Ernst and he was a great painter. I have a feeling I'm going to love it here," she said with a huge smile as I paid our entrance fees and grabbed a headset. We wandered for hours through some of the best works of Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Paul Klee and Jackson Pollack. I laughed as we came upon another mobile by Alexander Calder and Bella looked up at me with a big smile, clearly remembering my desire to have an original Calder for a baby mobile eventually.

When we left the museum, it was already past six, so we grabbed a quick bite for dinner and took a water taxi back to our hostel. When we finally lay in bed that night, Bella was smiling from ear to ear.

"Something on your mind babe?" I asked as I fussed with my pillow in an attempt to get comfortable.

"I was just thinking about how great the past few days have been. I'm actually excited to head to Paris, even though I know you plan on spoiling me. I just have a feeling it will be really memorable," she said with a content sigh as she cuddled close to me and wrapped her leg onto mine. "Do you know where you want to go next? We only have like two and a half weeks left, so I was thinking we should head to Barcelona and spend a few days there. The train ride might take a while though."

"What about the French Riviera? You don't want to live it up like a rich snob?" I asked with a laugh.

"No thanks, you don't even want to do that so don't pretend you do," said Bella boldly as she reached her hand down to my side and started to tickle me tenderly. "Plus maybe we can take a night train, and try to have that train sex you so desperately want," she said with a wink. I nodded my head and then buried it in her neck, kissing her passionately.

"I think that is a great idea Bella. Great minds think alike."


	23. Venice

**A/N: I am loving all the reviews I am getting, especially the ones that say "Just make Bella tell him already" The more reviews I get like that, the more I'm gonna want to postpone the reveal. LOL. All my readers probably think I am so evil now. I'm sure you will all love me when I post three chapters in one day because the reveal is written, I just need to write the shit before it!**

**Extra special thanks to melferd and mmwalker who have made me laugh like crazy at their comments. They definitely made my day. I do promise that Edward will know the truth before Bella moves in with Rosalie, so there goes the 'hunky movers' scenario mmwalker.**

**Welcome snapcracklethepop, I have loved your reviews and am very pleased you are enjoying the story.**

**Enjoy the smut my friends!**

**I don't own twilight, but I do own a big container of Tums for my constant heartburn.**

**BPOV**

"Wake up sleepyhead," said Edward as he poked me in the side gently. I rolled over, away from him and tossed my pillow over my head. When I glanced at the clock, it was only seven in the morning.

"Go back to sleep Edward," I said sleepily as he continued to poke me in the side. I felt his arm snake around my waist and then he lifted the pillow from my head and kissed the nape of my neck.

"You need to get up Bella. I signed us up for a for an art tour thing this morning and it leaves at nine, so we need to get going, especially if you want to eat something first." Edward pulled the blankets from my naked body and poked me in the arm a bit; he was doing an excellent job of annoying the hell of out me. I stood from the bed in frustration and headed into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. "So no joint shower huh?" he called with a laugh from outside the door.

It was only an hour later than we were walking down the street towards the meeting place for our tour. "So, where the hell are we going?" I asked curiously as he took a bite of the muffin he had picked up this morning when we left the hostel. "

"We're going to some square where we will meet up with the tour guide and other tourists. The tour is supposed to take us through Venice where we will see the real version of various Italian Masterpieces. Like instead of seeing a painting of St. Mark's Square, we will actually see it and they will give us a bunch of detail and shit. I thought you would like it," he said with a grin as I squeezed his hand tighter and smiled.

"It's a perfect idea," I replied as I kissed his cheek and smiled brightly at him.

"Then we're going back to the hostel to relax for a bit. We have dinner reservations and some other stuff after that," said Edward, looking pretty smug about all the plans he had made. This was clearly going to be another day of romance in Venice, but I wasn't complaining at all. I walked quietly with him to the square and we only had a few moments to wait until the tour guide arrived. There were seven other people taking the tour with us, and it was actually rather enjoyable. Everyone else was European, with the exception of Edward and I. We never once asked a single question, but listened intently as the guide talked about all the sites and their artistic equivalents. Just as expected, it was almost four hours later when the tour ended and we were headed back to the hostel. We grabbed a slice of pizza before we headed inside to relax for a bit.

Edward and I lay on our couch for a while, watching odd Italian game shows before he suggested I hop in the shower to get ready for our big date. "Are you going to tell me where we're going?" I asked with a seductive smile. He didn't budge of course. Instead he practically pushed me into the shower and closed the door behind him. The moment I stepped out, Edward went in.

"We're gonna be late if I don't shower soon," he said with a grin as he turned the water back on and showered, completely oblivious to me in the room. "Make sure you have your I.D with you, we're gonna do some drinking." I nodded my head and left the room, opting to get dressed into one of my new outfits from Vienna while he showered. I was almost completely done by the time he walked out of the bathroom clad only in a tiny towel, which did nothing to hide any of his assets. His muscular chest was glistening with water and the towel hung so low on his waist, you could see the delectable view of the 'v' of his hip crevice, where his hip met his thigh. I was practically drooling at him.

"Am I dressed alright?" I asked curiously as I tried to look at anything but him, otherwise we'd never make it to the restaurant. I had put on a light blue tank, topped with white knitted button down sweater. I had on the white skirt I had bought at Zara in Amsterdam, and I thought I looked pretty good.

"Yeah, you look beautiful like usual," he replied with a sly grin. We left the hostel only twenty minutes later, and he looked as handsome as ever in a pair of black pants and a white button down shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His hand was intertwined tightly in mine and he led me through some of the streets until we were at a small restaurant only steps from the Rialto Bridge.

"Reservation for Cullen," he casually to the hostess who clearly spoke English. She looked through the book on her small platform and showed us to our seat by a window overlooking the canals. It was breathtaking. I caught a glimpse of the hostess and she was giving Edward a look similar to what I give him, which was pure lust and adoration. I wrapped my arm around his waist and motioned for him to sit beside me, instead of across from me.

"She was so eye-fucking you," I said a few moments after she had left us alone in our seats.

"Are you jealous Bella?" asked Edward as he stretched his arm over the back of my chair and looked out to the canal with a smile on his face.

"Why should I be jealous? You're mine, not hers." My voice was confident and forceful and Edward leaned in to give me a sweet kiss as he nodded his head. He was definitely all mine, at least for two more weeks. We glanced through our menus and after we ordered, we talked easily throughout dinner. The atmosphere was relaxed and romantic, but Edward kept staring outside, so I knew something else was up. "Are you looking for something?"

"What? No, I'm not looking for anything. Just enjoying the evening with my girlfriend." I wasn't sure if I should believe him, but I let the topic drop. Our waiter came seconds later with the bill, and Edward thrust his credit card at him with a smile. We waited a few more minutes and when he came back and signed the slip; he grasped my hand tightly and pulled me from the restaurant. Edward led me a few steps down the street towards the gondola's that were awaiting passengers. He paid for one for us, handing him several large bills and I looked at him in awe. "We're going for a long ride," he laughed.

I tensely stepped into the small boat with the help of our gondolier, Giovanni. Edward easily hopped in beside me, and grabbed my camera from my purse. He took a quick photo of the two of us together and then a few more of the bridge at night. It was pretty romantic as he tossed a blanket over our laps to keep my legs warm. Giovanni started to sing to us some Italian love songs as Edward wrapped his arm around me and held me close to him while his free hand slipped under the blanket and rested on my knee.

"I've always wanted to do this," I admitted to him as a blush crossed my face. Edward kissed the top of my head and slid his hand further up my leg, causing me to gasp slightly.

"I'm very glad I could help you realize a dream Bella," he whispered to me quietly as his hand moved my skirt up my lap. He glanced back at Giovanni, who seemed completely oblivious to everything around him with the exception of his oar and his singing. As I felt Edwards finger sliding up the edge of my mound, I suddenly wished I wasn't wearing any panties. Then I wondered if Giovanni would notice if I climbed between Edward's legs and gave him a blow job. I didn't think it was the best idea, but I didn't stop Edward's fingers from tugging my panties down so that he had easier access to me.

I moaned gently as I felt his entire hand cupping me beneath the blanket and I looked back casually, but Giovanni was not paying attention at all. He steered us past the bridge slowly as Edward pushed against my thigh, clearly trying to get me to spread my legs open more for him, which I did willingly. With his free hand, he reached over to tenderly hold my face before pulling me in for a passionate kiss. His tongue swept along my bottom lip and the moment I opened my mouth, I felt him push my head closer to his. Our tongues melded together and we kissed while his finger slipped between my lips and began caressing my clit tenderly at first, and then with a little more pressure.

I groaned in pleasure as he moved his lips from mine, down to my neck where he began sucking furiously, clearly attempting to leave yet another hickey on me. I giggled at the thought, but it was quickly replaced by a loud moan as he plunged two fingers inside of me. I gripped his hair, a little too tightly, as he continued to pump his fingers in and out of my wetness. When he was done sucking on my neck, I felt his tongue moving down my neck towards my collarbone. Edward was licking me ever so lightly and it was such a god damned turn on, I really considered just pulling off the blanket and blowing him on the gondola. Instead, I spread my legs a little wider and bit down on my bottom lip while he finger fucked me into oblivion. Before I even had a chance to understand what was going, I threw my head back in pleasure and was coming all over his fingers, feeling exhausted from the mind blowing orgasm he had given me from his talented fingers.

I glanced over at Edward and he was extremely smug. "I really like gondola rides." I leaned over to him and bit his ear lobe gently as I sat up slightly from the seat, pulling my panties back into their original position.

"You do realize I would be sucking on your hard cock right now if it wasn't for our good friend back there," I whispered seductively as I slipped my hand under the blanket and took a firm grip on his cock, still hidden by his pants. I saw a light go off in his head and he motioned to Giovanni to stop the boat for a moment. They whispered together for a moment before Giovanni smiled and maneuvered the boat into a small slip of water, away from the main canal.

It was slightly dark, lit only by the lights in the homes and businesses in the surrounding area. There was no one around though as Giovanni stepped from the boat and tied it to the edge. He lifted his hand up to Edward, giving him some sort of signal before he walked away from us, leaving us in the dimly lit canal. "Okay, you were saying something about my cock," he said with a grin.

"What did you do?" I asked incredulously as my hand kept moving against his hardness.

"Nothing special. I asked for a few minutes of privacy and he took us here and walked away." There was definitely more to what Edward said, but I didn't worry about it. Instead, I knelt down in front of him and made quick work of his belt and pants, unsheathing his cock from his boxers swiftly. I looked up at Edward and he was grinning from ear to ear, clearly pleased with the situation unfolding before him. As I kept my eyes trained on his, I wrapped my hand around the base of his dick, before opening my mouth wide and sucking it deeply into my mouth.

"Awww fuck," he moaned loudly as my hot mouth forced its way up and down along his length. I think I caught him off guard by immediately sucking on him, instead of offering some lame ass hand job to start, but he certainly didn't seem to mind. I pulled him out of my mouth for a moment and began licking the underside of his cock as I grasped his balls in my hand, fondling them gently, which elicited another groan of pleasure from Edward.

I did my best to relax myself, specifically my throat, and when I took him in my mouth again, I took him as far down as I could, feeling him hit the back of my throat. He let out a long guttural moan as I sucked on him hard, my teeth grazing his sensitive shaft. I looked up at him again and he had a huge grin across his face, his eyes were closed and his head was bent back against the seat. I shoved my hot mouth down on him again, my tongue focusing on licking and worshipping the head of his cock as I felt him spasm beneath me. I felt his hands run through my hair, gripping gently as he began to push me down him, his hips thrusting forward into my mouth. Another spasm ran through his cock, and this time, he moaned loudly as he spilled forth into my mouth. I swallowed every drop of him greedily as though I was enjoying my last meal.

"See, I told you I wanted your cock," I said with a grin as I stood and fixed my skirt and shirt. I patted my hair down to make it look somewhat normal before I took my seat beside him on the boat. Edward said nothing. He simply smiled from ear to ear as I helped him shove his cock back into his boxers and he stood to put his pants back on properly. Giovanni was back at the boat a few minutes later and took his spot on the back of the gondola as though nothing had happened. As Edward and I snuggled together, the blanket back across our laps, Giovanni returned to singing his Italian love songs as Edward kissed me sweetly.

"You can never do this with anyone else," he said forcefully as his hands began to run through my hair.

"I don't plan on it. Although maybe you and I can do it again one day."

**EPOV**

All I had planned was a romantic dinner followed by a gondola ride. I hadn't planned to finger Bella to orgasm while our gondolier stood less than five feet behind us. He never even looked down once, and I knew because I was keeping a close eye on him. I'm certain he heard things I would prefer he hadn't, but there was little I could do about it now. I was surprised when he agreed to move our boat to somewhere more secluded and to give us a few minutes of privacy. As we stepped off the boat later, I paid him handsomely for his absence and his silence. He gave me a knowing grin when he took the money, but I just nodded my head and smiled. I had a feeling we weren't the first people to do this in his gondola, but I didn't care. I gripped Bella's hand in mine as we walked back to our hostel through the crowded streets.

"That was unexpected," she said happily as I squeezed her hand.

"We probably could have had sex with Giovanni singing. He didn't seem to care much," I laughed as I turned towards Bella, who was practically glowing. When we got back to our room it was just past midnight. I was tempted to continue what we had started in the gondola, but Bella peeled all of her clothes off and quickly got into bed, pulling the covers tight against her. I followed suit and slid into bed beside her, and pulled her close to me, reveling in the skin to skin contact which didn't come after having sex, for once.

"So, did you decide where you want to go on Friday? Are we heading to Barcelona?" I asked curiously as she nuzzled her head into my chest and wrapped her leg around mine, rubbing against my throbbing erection. This wasn't going to be a pleasant night if it wouldn't go away. "We could hit a few nude beaches on the French Riviera."

"A Nude Beach? Honestly Edward, could you handle me going topless on a beach? You'd probably punch the first person who even looked in my direction, so let's rule that one out. If you want to see my breasts, just pull down the damned blanket," she said with a laugh, as I did exactly what she said, sliding the blanket down to her waist so that I could take in all of her beauty.

"You're gorgeous," I said with a wistful sigh. I still couldn't believe sometimes that this stunning girl was all mine. I still couldn't believe that she gave me a blow job on a gondola in Venice. She was always surprising me for the better.

"You're biased because you're in love with me," she said with a small chuckle, which I found absolutely adorable.

"You're right, but we still need to decide where to go. I know you want to go to Barcelona, but what about flying to Lisbon and then working our way back. We can then go to Madrid, Barcelona and Paris. That should get us back to London in time right?" I asked curiously. I figured Bella probably a bunch of things mapped out in her mind of what she still wanted to do.

"I don't think we have that much time left." I looked down at her and she looked like she was about to cry. She was clearly remembering that our time was nearly up and I didn't want to focus on it at all.

"Okay, then what about just flying into Madrid, taking the train to Barcelona and then heading to France. We have 13 days left, and we need about five of those for Paris. With our last eight days we can spend four in Madrid and four in Barcelona." I watched as Bella nodded in agreement. "Then we'll take the overnight train from Barcelona to Paris and finally get in that train sex I've been dying to have with you."

"You are incorrigible Edward Cullen," she smirked as she kissed my chest and slowly fell asleep. I am definitely persistent, and I could care less at this moment. I had my girl and I didn't need anything else in the world.

When we woke the next morning, Bella and I headed to the lounge to make our arrangements to fly from Venice to Madrid. We ended up booking a two hour flight with Air Europa that left early the next morning. We would have the entire day to explore Madrid, which Bella was pleased about. She wasn't as pleased when she checked her email and found no emails awaiting her. She was clearly looking for one.

"Waiting for something specific?" I asked politely. Bella simply nodded her head easily and then switched her screen to one about hostels in Madrid.

"Angela is usually really quick about emailing me back, but I sent her one a few days ago and I haven't heard anything. I'm kinda getting worried about her."

"Then call her. You do have those calling cards right? You should give her a call later in the day to make sure she's okay," I suggested sweetly as I ran my hand along her thigh, trying to be supportive.

"I'll see," she remarked casually before she glanced back at the screen. Bella and I had agreed that she would pay for the hostel and I would pay for our plane fare. She was constantly trying to get me not to spend money on her, but it's not like I had anything better to do with it. I was born with way too much money and had always used it how I wanted to, and this trip was no exception. She ended up picking out a small hostel on the main street, Gran Via, that had private rooms, which we had become accustomed to. Of course, I kept thinking about the hotel I would book us in Paris, which she would no doubt find to be extremely elaborate compared to the hostels we had stayed in.

Once everything was booked for our next locale, Bella and I decided to just walk the streets of Venice and visit random sites. We had no set schedule, and there was no where we really needed to be, but we had fun nonetheless. We discussed my love of music for the majority of the walk, and it was liberating to discuss it more with her. I had played the piano for her in Amsterdam, and we had explored the sound museum together in Vienna, but it hadn't felt like I had shown her the real me, musically speaking.

As we were walking around, I noticed a small piano bar that was opening up for the day and I asked the owner if he would mind if I played for a little bit. He nodded his head as I grasped Bella's hand in mine and led her towards the baby grand that was perched on a small stage at the very back of the bar. I sat her down and immediately started to play, my fingers practically twitching in excitement as they danced over the keys. I played a couple of my own compositions before starting in on some Mozart and Beethoven. Before I knew it, I had been playing for over an hour and there were almost a dozen patrons in the bar. I turned to Bella, who was looking at me in awe and I smiled hesitantly. I thanked the owner and left a big tip for the bartender before I dragged Bella back out onto the streets of Venice.

"That was beautiful. I'm always in awe when I watch you play. You seem so focused and happy when your fingers touch the ivory keys, it's actually pretty adorable." Bella sighed and then wrapped her arm around my waist, squeezing me gently.

"It's easy to play when you have such great inspiration."

**A/N: I need some sounding boards for a possible sequel, so review me and I might let you know :)**


	24. Venice to Madrid

**A/N: Let me first say I am so excited by the additional readers and reviews to my story. It must mean I'm doing something right, or pissing you all off. I loved all the reviews, especially the ones regarding my sequel concept. I have never gotten this many reviews for one single chapter, so I thank you all. I obviously haven't pissed off too many of you by delaying the reveal. **

**Melferd and mmwalker… I love you guys *group hug, tears streaming from laughter* So I've included a whole heck of a lot more smut for you guys. Sadly, it doesn't include a reveal with it.**

**Lysvia, MeghanBailey, bacmel79 and lovebuggkiss, thanks for your always awesome reviews! You complete me. LOL**

**Anyways, enjoy the chappie and review your little brains out. See I was right, more reviews brings more smut and quicker chapters. **

**BPOV**

It was early on Friday morning when we stepped inside the airport in Venice, having just checked out of our hostel and eaten a small breakfast. Before leaving, I took a moment to check my email and was relieved to find one waiting for me from Angela. I had planned to call her last night when we got home, but to say I had gotten distracted by Edward was probably an understatement.

_Bella,_

_I am so sorry I didn't write sooner. Ben surprised me with a few days away camping for my birthday. Thanks for the birthday postcard from Vienna. It looked pretty damned cool. We spent four days alone in the wilderness and it was awesome, but once again, I am so sorry I didn't email sooner._

_You have clearly got yourself into one shitty situation babe. Just tell him. If he breaks up with you, perhaps it wasn't meant to be. Maybe you'll get lucky and he'll forgive you, but the longer you hold out, the harder it will be. I'm here for you and if you need to, you should call me. Do you think you can just show up at his dorm and be like 'surprise'? Probably not huh? I actually think that might piss him off more. I know it would if I was in his shoes._

_When are you supposed to fly out to New York for school? I am hoping we can spend some time together before you leave; we need at least one more girl night of renting Orlando Bloom movies and drooling while we make cookies and laugh at the expense of our high school frenemies. What do you say?_

_Ang_

I breathed a sigh of relief when I got the email from Angela. Thankfully there had been nothing major wrong and she was simply enjoying spending time with her boyfriend, just like I was. I wrote back a quick response letting her know I was on my way to catch a plane to Madrid, but that I would email her more when I arrived. Edward instantly noticed a change in my demeanor when he came into the lounge to join me. "Finally heard from Angela?" he asked sweetly as I nodded my head. "Good, now let's go before we're late."

We sat in the airport a little longer than necessary because our flight was delayed. It wasn't a wonderful sign, but airports just reminded me of the fact that the next airport I should be sitting in would be Heathrow as I headed back to New York from London. I was dreading that day, whether we were broken up or not, it was still going to suck. We ended up getting into Madrid an hour later than expected and we quickly headed to our hostel to drop off our bags, since we couldn't check in yet. Edward pulled out his map and we decided to walk through the streets for a little while and find something to eat for lunch. I was desperate to go to the Museo del Prado, but I needed at least a full day for that, so we were waiting till tomorrow. After lunch we headed to the Reina Sofía National Museum and Art Center, when I spent an exorbitant amount of time simply staring at Picasso's 'Guernica'. We also checked out some pieces by Dali and Kandinsky and Edward, once again, seemed to enjoy himself as he listened along on his headset.

"You do realize by the time we leave, you'll probably know more about art then I do," I said with a laugh as we walked from the museum at the end of the day.

"Well, it is somewhat interesting. I probably won't remember most of it in the long run," he said with a grin as he reached down and intertwined his fingers in mine. We walked back towards our hostel and stopped for dinner before finally checking in. The owner, Marco, gave us a booklet with information on things to do in Madrid, and I took it greedily. I was glad to be able to find things to do, rather than just looking on one of Edward's maps. "We should go to El Rietiro, maybe on Sunday?"

"What is El Rietiro," I asked as I hung up a few items in our closet while Edward flipped through the booklet.

"It's Madrid's equivalent to Central Park. There's a crystal house that we can see, plus we can rent a row boat to take on the lake. Think of the things we can do in a rowboat," he laughed as he put the booklet down and pulled his t-shirt off. I stared for a moment and snapped back to reality.

"We need to get some laundry done on Sunday, so why don't we do it Sunday morning and then head to the park when we're done?" Edward nodded his head easily and looked at me expectantly. "What?"

"Are you almost done? I'm pretty tired and I can't sleep without you," he replied sweetly. I finished as quickly as I could, and immediately undressed, snuggling close to him as he started to run his hands through my hair, which was doing a great job of relaxing me."So, how's Angela?"

"She's fine. She went camping with her boyfriend Ben and never had a chance to send me an email letting me know before he dragged her off to the wilderness. Everything is good though," I said with a nervous smile. We both fell into an easy sleep that night, but I had another nightmare which startled me awake. When I glanced down at the clock, it was six in the morning, so I decided to take a long shower and get ready for the day. I watched a bit of TV and even went out to pick up some coffee and pastries for breakfast while Edward slept. When I came back to the room just before eight, he was still asleep, in fact, he hadn't moved since I left.

I sat in silence contemplating my issues when I heard him wake up. "Where are you?" he asked sleepily as he reached over to my side of the bed that was empty.

"I'm on the couch enjoying my café au lait. I got you a black coffee." He stood from the bed and came over to sit beside me on the couch, still rubbing his eyes in order to adjust to the light.

"Thanks," Edward said with an easy nod as he kissed my cheek. "Good Morning babe."

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, it wasn't that bad. I'm guessing you didn't sleep as well though because you are up so early. Did you already shower and get dressed?" he asked curiously as he reached over to the coffee table and snatched up a blueberry Danish.

"I slept alright I guess. I just woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep. I need to talk to you about something," I was going to try with all my might to tell him about Columbia. It was now or never in my opinion and I needed to get it off my chest.

"What is it about? If it's about going home and us when we're home, then I don't want to talk about it," he said forcefully. I was pretty confused, especially since he had been pretty willing to discuss our situation previously.

"Yes, it's about home. It's really important and if we don't talk about it now, I don't know if I'll be able to muster up the courage to talk about it again," I replied honestly. It had taken me almost two months to get this far, I had to do it. I needed to do it.

"No." Edward looked pretty livid now and I backed off. "We have two weeks left. I don't want to talk about anything that happens after we leave London. It's not important right now. I think we should focus on enjoying ourselves and that's it. No more talking about Forks or Boston. No more talking about NYU or Northwestern."

I opened my mouth to say something in response, but nothing came out. Edward looked at me and offered up a sweet smile. He was doing this because he knew the separation was bothering me, and this was his way of trying to make things easier on me. Of course, he had no idea that his refusal to discuss it was actually making everything worse. "We really need to talk about this."

"No we don't Bella. It's not important. We'll be together no matter what happens. All that is imperative to me right now is that we enjoy Madrid, Barcelona and London. Okay? I already talked to Alice about this and she agrees it is the best way to go." I nodded my head absentmindedly and decided not to fight with him.

Edward finished his breakfast and rushed to get dressed so that we could make our way over to Museo del Prado and explore all the collections. It was less than an hour later that we were walking into the main doors of the museum where I paid our entrance fees and Edward grabbed his headset for the audio tour. We walked contentedly hand in hand through all the exhibits. They had an awesome exhibit on Francisco Goya which I spent too long admiring, but Edward didn't seem to mind. I dragged him through the gallery to see as many of the masterpieces as possible and when we finally left, it was already dark outside.

"I didn't even notice we missed lunch," I said with a laugh as he took me down the street to a small café for dinner. We chatted easily through the meal, but most of the time Edward was simply flirting with me unabashedly. The waitress had eyed him up when we walked in and I think he was trying to ease my jealousy by showing her he was taken. It seemed to work because half way through the meal, we ended up getting a new male waiter, which elicited a great deal of laughter between us. When we got back to the hostel, Edward and I got comfortable on the couch and he suggested a possible game for the evening.

"Strip Go Fish?" he asked as he pulled a deck of cards from a pouch on the side of his backpack.

"How on earth would we play strip go fish?" I inquired curiously as he started to shuffle the deck of cards like he was a dealer in Vegas.

"Simple, if I call a card you don't have, then I have to remove a piece of clothing, and vice versa. But the person who doesn't have the card gets to specify what article of clothing gets removed," said Edward with a seductive smile. I had to admit, I was kind of intrigued by the idea, in addition to being extremely horny courtesy of all his flirting at dinner, so I agreed. We sat across from each other on the couch with our legs crossed and he dealt out the necessary cards. I looked at the seven cards in my hand and realized it had been years since I last played this game. It was certainly going to be interesting.

**EPOV**

I was actually pretty surprised that Bella accepted the offer of strip go fish, then again, if she was as turned on as I was by all the flirting in the restaurant, I figured we wouldn't be playing too long. I glanced down at my seven cards and noticed I had nothing close to a set of four. I decided to let Bella go first, and she quickly asked for an Ace, which I had, so I handed it over ruefully.

"Don't get upset if I win," she said with a grin as she took her second turn and asked for a King.

"Go Fish and take off your shirt." Might as well go big or go home right? Plus if I started to lose badly, at least I'd get to stare at Bella's lace covered chest for the remainder of the game. She grabbed the hem of her care bears t-shirt and pulled it swiftly over her head, letting it rest on the coffee table and then picked up a card from the deck situated between us on the couch. It was finally my turn, and I called for threes. Bella had none.

"Go Fish and take off your socks," she said with a big grin. She clearly had something planned, and I was excited by the prospect. I pulled a card from the deck and shoved it in my hand.

"Do you have any eights?" she asked curiously. Unfortunately for me, I had just picked one up from the deck so I handed it to her in disappointment. She laughed at the expression on my face and thought intensely for a moment before declaring "Do you have any fours?"

"Nope, sorry. Go fish and take off your shorts," I stated proudly. I had never been happier to not have a four in my hand in my life. Bella stood and slowly shimmied herself out of her tiny khaki shorts, tossing them onto her existing pile of clothes and then picked up a card from the deck.

"Do you have any Jacks?" Bella handed over the two Jacks she had in her hand, and I quickly set down my complete set of Jacks on the sofa between us with a confident smile. "Hmm… do you have any twos?" Bella threw her head back in laughter before telling me she had none, this time she made me take off my t-shirt, and I quickly obliged before pulling another card from the deck.

"This game isn't going to last very long," she said with a chuckle as I caught her staring at my bare chest. I had no idea why she bothered looking at it the way she did, she could have it or touch it any fricking time she wanted, but here she was staring at me like a slab of meat.

"I have no problem with that," I said as I looked through my cards trying to find a one I needed.

"Do you have any threes?" she asked curiously. I had asked her for some a few rounds ago, so she must have picked one up. I handed her my three and frowned for a moment before she asked if I had any sixes, which I didn't. I made Bella put the ponytail out of her hair. It wasn't technically an article of clothing, but I always loved her with her hair draping around her shoulders.

"Do you have any tens?" Bella handed over one ten and I looked at my cards again. "What about a seven? Do you have any of those?" She handed me yet another card and I grinned again. "Hmm… what about nines?"

"Nope, no nines, so take your pants off now," she said as she licked her lips.

"Eager to get me naked are we Bella?"

"I'm eager to win. I think whoever still has clothes left is the winner, and I am determined to win." Bella was smiling wide and playing with the straps of her bra to tease me. She was sitting in just her black lace bra and panty set and I was having a major issue about which article to take off next. If I chose the bra, sure her breasts would be exposed to me, but I play with them almost every night when we go to sleep. If I chose the panties, she'd basically be spread before me, if she remained sitting the same position and I wasn't sure I could handle it, without doing something about it immediately. "Earth to Edward," she said as she woke me from my dirty thoughts.

"Do you have any sevens?" she asked with a laugh.

"I just got that damned seven from you," I stammered angrily. I was even more upset because I had just picked up a seven from the deck and was one card away from having the complete set.

"Oh well," she said with a sly grin as she eagerly accepted my three sevens. "Now what about twos? Do you have any twos?" I did not have any twos and even though we had only been playing for about fifteen minutes, I was already hard and desperate for it to be finished. "Go Fish and take your panties off Bella." She blushed a deep shade of red, but stood up from the couch and quickly pulled her black lace panties off, dropping them on the pile of clothes. She went to sit back down on the couch and I immediately thought she would sit differently, but she didn't, and I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

"You win," I said with a grin as I practically lunged across the couch and pulled her towards me. My lips eagerly latching onto her neck.

"I knew I would win," she said with a small moan as my hands reached behind her back and made swift work of the clasp on her bra, tossing it onto the floor beside us. There were playing cards everywhere, but I didn't care. My hands immediately ran down her sides and spread her thighs open.

"I think we both win Bella," I said with a laugh as I slid down her body, trailing kisses from her neck to her belly button. I slipped a finger between her open lips and massaged her clit gently with my finger, before replacing it with my tongue. My hands held her open for me as I lavished attention on her clit, before shoving my tongue deep inside of her.

"Oh Fuck," she yelled loudly as I started to fuck her with my tongue. Her fingers grasped my hair tightly and I kept my motions steady on her. Bella was panting breathlessly above me and her hips began to rise gently. She tasted even better than the last time he had eaten her out, and she seemed to be enjoying it just as much as he was. As her breathing picked up, I leaned down and took a quick nip of her clit, making her shudder slightly. She was getting close to her release so I shoved my two fingers deep inside of her and curled them slightly, looking for her elusive g-spot. "Fuck Me," she called out passionately. Luckily for me, it only took a few thrusts with my fingers before she screamed out my name and came all over my hand. I looked up at her with a smug grin of satisfaction, but Bella still looked horny as hell.

She stood from the couch and walked towards the kitchenette area, grabbing a chair and bringing it to the bathroom with her. I was beyond confused and even more so when she called out for me to join her. I walked into the bathroom and she made me sit on the chair, which was facing the back of the door. "What are we doing?" I asked as I raised one eye brow curiously. She said nothing, but peeled my boxers off before I was able to sit down comfortably.

"Just watch," she said with a grin as I she kneeled down before me and took my hard shaft into her mouth. I rolled my eyes back slowly, enjoying the sensation of her sucking on me. It was heavenly, but didn't last as long as I had hoped. Bella took a moment to compose herself, she seemed slightly nervous about whatever she was about to do, but I was excited. She stepped from the room for a moment and fetched a condom, and then proceeded to cover me completely. She turned around slowly, permitting me a wonderful view of both her luscious tits and ass, and then her back was to me. She straddled my legs quickly, shoving my hard cock deep inside of her and I moaned in sheer ecstasy. I had never done it in this position before, and I knew I would never do it with anyone other than Bella, ever again.

"Are you watching?" she asked curiously as I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her back against me tighter. I had no idea what she was talking about, but I let her bounce up and down on my cock, happily enjoying the friction between our bodies. "Edward, look."

I looked forward and had completely forgotten the full length mirror on the back of the bathroom door, which now provided me with a fucking fantastic view of Bella riding me. "Holy shit," I exclaimed before I ever had a chance to consider the words coming from my mouth. I looked at her reflection and not only was she smiling wider now, my words and expression seemed to have spurned her lust further, as she began to move quicker, pushing herself down on my rock hard shaft. It was the most erotic thing I had ever seen, and I couldn't take my eyes off the mirror. I noticed our position left her wide open to me, so I reached my hand down between her legs, rubbing her clit furiously as she fucked me. "Fuck Bella," I yelled out when I felt her hands grip my thighs tightly, practically digging her nails into me for additional support. I leaned my head against her shoulder for a moment before remembering the mirror and glancing back up.

From the look on Bella's face, I could tell she was near her release. Her head bent back against my shoulder as I moved my finger faster and harder against her clit, causing her to moan in pleasure. "Cum for me Bella," I pleaded into her ear as I felt my own orgasm building. I bit down on her earlobe and I could feel her body tighten beneath me as I felt the sweat building on my forehead from our pleasure. I removed my hand from her clit and gripped her hips tightly, forcing her up and down on my hard cock as I started to fill her up with my release. The moment I burst forth, Bella shuddered above me, groaning in pleasure from her second orgasm of the day.

"That was so fucking hot," she panted as she stood and turned around, straddling me on the chair facing forwards. I grabbed her face in my hands and kissed her passionately, my tongue grazing her bottom lip gently.

"That's something else you can't do with anyone else, ever," I said to her forcefully. Of course, just like I expected she just nodded her head and rested her spent body against me. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly against my sweat covered chest. "No really Bella… no one else."

"I promise Edward, no one else."

**A/N: I'm trying to compose a little playlist for myself and possibly the story so send me your best break up and make up songs! **


	25. Madrid to Barcelona

**A/N: Good morning all my lovely readers and reviewers. Thanks to everyone for their song suggestions. I actually downloaded several of them as I am considering a group of songs for a possible playlist for the 'reveal' in a few chapters.**

**Mmwalker and mojoka, your comments made me laugh. Sorry there isn't any lemons in this scene. Perhaps I am saving them all up for Paris? Not bloody likely! LOL **

**Enjoy the chapter.**

***I don't own twilight, but I do own a lot of music from Canadian indie artists.***

**BPOV**

The rest of our time in Madrid was spent in the hostel. We never went to see anything else, unless you count the lounge where we would log onto the computer and check our email or discuss travel arrangements to Barcelona. Edward and I had agreed to leave for Barcelona on Monday, and today was Sunday. We had agreed to do laundry together on Sunday morning, but before I woke up, Edward had already gathered all of our things and called a local laundry service to do it for us. Of course, in an effort to be sneaky, Edward actually sent ALL of my clothes to the laundry service, so I was naked for the rest of the day. Not that it really mattered because we spent it in bed, quickly running through another package of condoms.

It was almost six at night when our laundry arrived and I was finally able to get dressed. I tossed on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts and left Edward in our room while I went to check my email. I had one from my mother, and quickly remembered it was Sunday and I was supposed to call her. There were no other emails, thankfully, so I ran back to our room and grabbed a calling card before heading back to the common area to call home.

"Hi Mom," I said into the phone painfully after she answered. We hadn't ended our last conversation on good terms and hoped she had forgotten about it. Unfortunately for me, she hadn't.

"I'm surprised Edward let you call me," she snapped at me angrily.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean mom? You know very well I'm just dating and traveling with him. I'm still the independent person I always was." I was fuming at her accusation. She hasn't even gotten a chance to meet or talk to him, so how could she accuse him of being so possessive.

"Why aren't you agreeing to meet Jacob when you get home?" Aw fuck, what the hell does Jacob have to do with any of this?

"Simple mom, Jacob stopped talking to me, for three damned years. Why do I have to give him the time of day when he couldn't be bothered with me before?" I replied to her angrily. I was quickly regretting making this call and Renee was doing nothing to make anything better.

"He just wants to talk to you Bella. He and Billy have already apologized to us for how they treated us after the accident and I think you should give him the benefit of the doubt." My mom was starting to drive me nuts with her persistence. It was no surprise that when we were younger, my mom tried to convince me to give Jacob a chance after he asked me out no less than seven times in two months. It never happened. I never once saw Jacob as anything more than a friend of the family, but neither my mom nor Jacob seemed to grasp this concept.

"It's not happening mom. I don't care how much you try to convince me otherwise, I don't want to talk to him. Is dad there? Can I talk to him please?" I was practically begging to be let off the phone with her. She was taking the term overbearing to a new plateau. I heard her huff in frustration and then I smiled as the smooth, calm voice of my father came on the phone.

"Hey Bells, how is Venice?" he asked with sincere curiosity.

"I'm in Madrid now dad, but everything is good. Edward and I are leaving for Barcelona in the morning, so that should be a decent trip," I said positively. It was such a major change talking to Charlie instead of Renee. I felt like the world had been lifted from my shoulders.

"How is Edward?" he asked tensely, although he did seem concerned.

"He's fine Dad. I promise, he's the kind of guy you would approve of. We've been doing good, he even took me on a romantic gondola ride in Venice a few days ago," I remarked casually. I certainly wasn't going into any specifics with my father of all people. In fact, Angela probably wouldn't hear them either; we never did talk about the dirty details of our sex lives.

"I'm glad Bella. If you are happy, then I am happy."

"Good, now can you tell mom to back off? She keeps trying to get me to get in touch with Jacob, which isn't going to happen," I said remorsefully. I knew Charlie had held out hope at one time that I would date Jacob, but he was never as vocal about it as Renee. Charlie trusted me to make decisions that were right for me.

"Listen Bells, I don't want to get involved in any of the specifics, but it might be good for you to talk to him again. It's totally up to you and I definitely won't push you about it." I calmed slightly at his words and thanked him for not being as bossy as Renee. I told him I loved him and our call ended moments later. I sat in one of the comfortable chairs in the lounge and tried to think of why everyone I knew was trying to get me in touch with Jacob. It wasn't going to happen, but I was still curious of the reason. While I was considering possible situations, Edward walked in and knelt between my legs.

"Are you okay?" he asked with sincere concern.

"Yeah, I just finished talking to my parents and it was a little weird. I was just getting my bearings straight," I said with a small kiss to his forehead. He grabbed my hands in his and looked at me sweetly.

"If something is going on at home, I hope you know you can confide in me. Lord knows I've told you enough horror stories about my parents to last for years," he remarked with a sly grin. I nodded my head and decided to tell him what was going on, even though I could already sense his response.

"Everyone back home is trying to get me to talk to Jacob Black when I get home, which I'm not planning to do, but I am just trying to understand why they are all pushing so hard," I admitted reluctantly to him. I felt his grip on my hands tighten as he started to speak.

"Do you think it's because they want me out of your life?" he choked out with a dismal looking frown. I shook my head, almost violently, in response to his question.

"Even if that was what they were trying, it wouldn't happen. You're stuck with me for however long you want me," I said with a smile as I kissed his forehead.

"Forever it is then," he replied earnestly as he kissed my hands and helped me up from the club chair. "Now, let's plan our trip to Barcelona while we await the arrival of dinner."

"You ordered us dinner?" I asked in shock as I pulled up a website with train schedules on it. Edward already had one open with hostels, and was reviewing them as he spoke.

"Yeah, just some food from the café down the street, nothing fancy. Now look up info on trains for us baby." I nodded my head and tried to focus on the schedules in front of me. I found a train for us that left at ten in the morning and arrived just after one in the afternoon. This was definitely our best choice, so I scrawled the information down on my notepad and watched Edward as he checked out hostels.

"That one looks good," I suggested as I pointed at the screen at one hostel located at the center of Barcelona. It had a high approval rating from other travelers and offered private rooms with double beds, so Edward and I were set. He smiled at me in agreement and reserved the room for us for3 nights. We would arrive on Monday and leave on Thursday, before heading onto our final stop, Paris. Just as we had finished using the computers, the delivery man arrived with our dinner and Edward paid him handsomely before I led him upstairs to our room.

The next morning, we hurried around the hostel to make sure everything was packed. We had stupidly forgotten to pack anything the night before because we were too busy having sex. Edward even had to run out to buy two more packages of condoms, for fear that we would run out and do something stupid because we tended to think with our hormones and not our heads when we were together.

We barely made it to the station on time and as I got our tickets, Edward picked up a new map for Barcelona and then we ran as fast as we could to the platform. We had barely become comfortable in our seats before the train started moving north east towards Barcelona. Instead of spending our time staring at the map, trying to decipher where to go, Edward shoved it in his backpack and just held me tightly. We stared out the window and he ran his fingers along my hand and up my arm, bringing goose bumps to the surface, and it wasn't even cold. We didn't talk, even though I tried. Every time I attempted to say something he would either silence me with his lips or by putting his finger in front of my mouth. It was romantic, yet aggravating at the same time.

When we finally arrived in Barcelona, we left our bags at our hostel and headed down to Joan Miro museum for a few hours. It was only two hours later when we stepped out, but it was dinner time so Edward and I stopped at a small restaurant for some authentic Spanish cuisine before heading back to our hostel to relax for the evening. As we walked in the building, there were several other kids around our age milling around, clearly waiting for someone or something. As Edward checked in, one of the guys approached me and I was surprised to hear he spoke English.

"Hey, you're from Canada huh?" he asked as he pointed at my backpack and extended his hand for me to take it.

"Sure," I replied as Edward laughed beside me and I shook his hand casually.

"I'm Chris and I'm from San Francisco. We're traveling together across Europe. What's going on with you guys?" he asked as he motioned his hand between Edward and I.

"I'm Bella and this is my boyfriend Edward. We're doing the same thing, except our trip is almost over. We fly out of London in about nine days," I remarked with a hint of sadness.

"Cool, well we're all heading out to one of the local clubs as soon as our friend Madison gets down here. Do you guys want to come?" he asked genuinely as I glanced over at Edward.

"What club are you guys going to?" asked Edward as he raised his eye brow in concern and gave Chris the once over.

"It's called 'the Paloma' and it's like two blocks west of here apparently. You guys are welcome to join us once you have settled in, if you want." I looked over at Edward and I was surprised that he nodded his head in agreement. We told them we would see them later and then we followed the desk clerk up to our room, which thankfully had our own bathroom.

"Do you really want to go out?" I asked Edward as he pulled his dressier clothes from his backpack.

"Yeah, why not? We haven't been out to a club in a while, and you know I can't resist a chance to grind against you in public," he said with a laugh as he kissed my forehead and walked into the bathroom.

"Okay then," I said in surprise. I pulled out my blue and white dress I had purchased in Vienna and then I proceeded to get dressed, although in an effort to tease Edward, I _accidently_ forgot to wear my panties. It was almost nine o'clock when we left the hostel and started the short walk down the road to the club Chris had recommended. Edward gripped my hand tightly as we walked in, and I noticed Chris and several of his friends in the corner.

"Edward, Bella… so nice of you to join us," he said with a slightly drunken laugh. I waved easily as Chris began to introduce us to his friends. Everyone was from San Francisco and they were all third years at Stanford, which we both found very impressive.

"Bella's going to be first year Art History major at Northwestern and I'm a first year music student at NYU," said Edward as he sat down on one of the chairs and pulled me onto his lap.

"Aww… long distance love, how sad," said one of the girls whose name I think was Kelsey. I nodded my head casually as everyone started to talk casually about their majors, and it was odd to see Edward fit in so well with them. A few minutes after we arrived, a waitress came over and took our order. I ordered a shot of whiskey and a beer, which seemed to catch Edward off guard. He decided to order the same and I just laughed at him easily.

"So, how long have you guys been together?" asked another girl, a stunning looking blonde, whose name I later found out was Madison. She had been staring at Edward a little too much from the moment we walked in and joined the group. I wasn't going to have her watching my man like that for the rest of the night though.

"Two months," Edward said with a smile as he kissed my lips sweetly. That's right bitch, he's mine, I thought to myself with a grin as my hands found their way through Edward's hair. Madison glared at me for a moment and I instantly felt a feeling of jealousy wash over me. I guess it was my time to be the jealous one.

**EPOV**

The bar was kind of boring, the music mundane at best, but Chris and his friends reminded me of Jasper and my friends back in Boston. They clearly came from rich families and didn't' care who knew it. I didn't say anything about my own family though; for fear that they might actually know about them. Bella seemed to be clinging to me extra tightly after only a few minutes in the bar and I wondered if something was wrong. When I whispered to her, she said everything was fine, so I tried to relax and enjoy myself. One of the girls, Madison, seemed particularly interested in our relationship and was asking way too many questions, some of which I noticed Bella found disconcerting.

"Seriously two months, that's it?" asked Madison incredulously as she took another shot of some pink colored liquor and tried to lick her lips seductively in my direction.

"Yes, two months," snapped Bella in frustration. "Is it that hard to believe that two people can fall madly in love in such a short time?"

"I didn't mean anything by it Bella," insisted Madison, with her standard bitchy glare directed right at Bella. "You guys look very happy." I grasped Bella's face in my hand and pulled her towards me, kissing her furiously in front of everyone especially Madison, who still looked angry. I ordered Bella and I another round of drinks, hoping to get her onto the dance floor sooner rather than later.

"So, art history huh?" asked Chris with sincere interest. "I guess you've hit several galleries around Europe huh?"

"We have been to at least one in every single city we've been too. I can't wait to get to Paris to visit the Louvre, I'm certain I will be overwhelmed." Bella looked excited as she spoke the words happily to Chris. I couldn't wait to get to Paris either. I still had to reserve us a hotel room and finalize a few more arrangements, but it would be completely worthwhile and memorable.

"That's really cool. Sounds like you guys have had a great time," said Chris, as our waitress arrived with our new drinks and Bella greedily drank hers quickly. I grabbed the arm of the waitress as she left and requested another round of drinks as I handed her a bill that was way too large for what we just purchased.

"Dude, you're throwing your money away on all this booze," laughed Chris a little too loudly, the alcohol was clearly sinking in.

"I don't care. I'd spent ten times as much, as long as Bella is happy." I heard a collective round of sighs from the table as Bella leaned down and practically fucked my mouth with her tongue. I was a little overwhelmed, but I didn't complain one bit. When we finally parted a few minutes later, our waitress was already back with another drink for Bella and I. I nursed both the drinks in front of me, not particularly eager to get as drunk as Bella was planning to. I wanted to keep an eye on her for the rest of the night, and I definitely couldn't do that if I was hammered.

"Okay baby, it's time to dance," said Bella almost half an hour later as 'Heartless' by Kayne West came streaming through the speakers in the club. I laughed at Bella and let her lead me onto the dance floor. No one else from the table joined us; they simply continued drinking and watched us intently. I noticed Madison whispering to one of the other girls at the table, but I chose to ignore them. I grabbed Bella's hips tightly as we moved together towards the center of the floor. She moved from side to side, never once letting go of me. She kept time to the music easily considering how much she had to drink. I kept pulling her closer to me; my hand resting on her ass as we practically humped each other on the floor. Bella slipped her leg onto my hip and as I reached my hand down to her thigh to get a better grip on her, she leaned up and whispered to me, "Move your hand up further." I nodded my head and let my hand move further up her thigh towards her heat, and I almost went into cardiac arrest when I realized she was missing her panties.

"Bella, where are your panties?" I whispered nervously as she continued to grind herself against me.

"Back in our room," she replied with a seductive grin as she turned around and rubbed her ass against my now throbbing hard on. The song ended up being a medley of Kayne songs, and as it changed effortlessly into 'Stronger', Bella started to move herself against me harder and I gasped at the friction between us.

"Fucking cock tease," I said forcefully into her ear as I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her back into me harder.

"How bad do you want me?" she asked as she turned around and started to push herself against my cock again. She reached her hand up behind my neck and pulled me down to her face and licked my lips tenderly while I stared at her in awe. I don't think she had ever been so overtly sexual in public, with other people present.

"I'd bend you over right now and fuck you if I could Bella, I really would. Fuck, you are so fucking hot," I replied tensely. The longer we danced, the harder it was to resist her.

"I'll be right back," said Bella smoothly as I watched her walk from me, towards the washroom. She probably had to go break the seal or something like that, I thought to myself as I began to head back to the table where everyone else was sitting. Before I even had a chance to leave the dance floor, Madison had come up beside me and asked if I wanted to dance.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I think Bella and I are going to leave," I said as I tried to walk away from her. She grabbed my arm tightly and gently tugged me back onto the dance floor.

"Oh, Bella won't care about one little dance." I looked up at her and felt immediately repulsed. She actually reminded me a bit of Jessica Stanley from back in Boston and I couldn't stand that girl, even when I fucked her, which was way too often for my liking now.

"Yes she will, so let go of my arm," I said fiercely as I grabbed her hand and pulled it from mine forcefully. Before I even had a chance to react, Madison was pulling me towards her, trying to kiss me.

"What the fuck?" screamed Bella as she stormed up beside us and started to throw her arms in the air in pure fury.

"Calm down Bella, Madison was trying to get me to dance with her, but I was just leaving," I replied casually, but Bella looked just as angry as before. I grabbed her hand and pulled her from the dance floor to prevent her from making a scene.

"Then why the fuck was she kissing you?" I hung my head down low and a feeling of sheer terror ran through my body. Before I could respond, Bella was running from the club, with Chris following at her heels.

"What the hell are you doing?" I yelled furiously at Madison as I threw some cash down on the table to pay our bill.

"She's not the girl for you. You clearly come from money Edward; you're a spoiled rich kid, just like us. You belong with someone more like me," claimed Madison as she ran her finger down her neck towards her clearly surgically enhanced tits.

"Fuck you skank. Yeah, I come from money. In fact, it's probably more money than you've ever seen, but I don't give a shit. You remind me of every dirty ass whore back in Boston who uses her pussy to get guys because they have no personality. Stay the fuck away from us." I ran from the club and headed down the street, hoping to find Bella, with no luck. There weren't many places she would go, so I headed back to the hostel first and thankfully, I found her in the lounge talking to Chris on the sofa. Her head was buried in her hands and she was crying, which broke my heart. Chris looked up at me with remorse and stood from the couch, walking away to give us some privacy.

"Bella," I said quietly as I swept some of her hair behind her ear. "Nothing happened, I promise you."

"I just want to go to bed," she said with a tear filled sigh. I grabbed her hand and led her back towards our room which was on the third floor. I was livid, not just because of Madison's assumptions about me, but because Bella actually believed I would want someone other than her. When we got back into the room, Bella put on a pair of pajamas, which was something she hadn't done in almost a week, and crawled into bed. I undressed, leaving my boxer shorts on, and laid down beside her.

"I would never ever cheat on you Bella. She asked me to dance and I turned her down. Apparently she's not used to being rejected and I think she tried to kiss me because she saw you walking towards us," I admitted anxiously. After a few minutes of silence, Bella rolled over and curled her body towards mine, resting her head on my bare chest. My fingers immediately started to run through her soft hair, and she sighed gently.

"I know you wouldn't cheat on me Edward, but the thought is always there. I'm sure you feel the same way sometimes. I could tell Madison was a whore from the moment she started to question our relationship, I just hoped she wouldn't act on her very obvious desires," she said reluctantly. "I trust you with my heart Edward."

"And you with mine Bella."


	26. Barcelona to Paris

**A/N: Yes, another damned chapter. Thanks again to my lovely readers… I hope everyone saw that they are heading to Paris finally! I think I am just as eager for them to get there as all of you are.**

**Melferd – political asylum? LOL! That was classic! I really think I need to post all your comments together into one chapter. They always make me laugh my ass off.**

**Glo4twilight – welcome to the wonderful world that is "American Girl" thanks for all your recent reviews, I have loved every single one of them.**

**Mmwalker – here's a lemon and a half for you! LOL.**

**I don't own twilight, but I do own a big green couch and matching love seat.**

**BPOV**

"Ow, fuck," I said out loud as I grasped my head in my hands willing the pain and the throbbing ache to go away. It wasn't working, so I pulled the covers up to look underneath them and I was surprised to see I was wearing pajamas. I haven't worn those in like two weeks, I thought to myself. Even Edward had boxers on which was even more unusual. Last night had clearly not gone as I had planned.

"Hey," Edward said sleepily as he moved his arm from around me and stretched it over his head.

"Why are we dressed?" I said in confusion as Edward looked at me and cocked his eye brow.

"Bella, you came back last night and didn't give us much choice. You put your clothes on, so I stayed dressed too. What is the last thing you remember?" Edward looked at me with concern and even though I had a headache I didn't feel like I was forgetting anything.

"Umm, we were dancing at Kanye and you discovered I was going commando," I said quietly as Edward grabbed a bottle of water from our mini-fridge and gave it to me. "What am I missing?"

"Well, what you're missing is all the drama that happened. You left me to go to the bathroom and then we were going to come back here so that I could have my way with you basically. When you left, Madison tried to pull me on the dance floor, when I turned her down she then tried to kiss me. You saw this, and freaked out and ran from the club. Nothing happened with her, I swear," he said remorsefully, even though he had nothing to be sorry for.

"Oh," I said as I sat up in bed a bit and took a big sip of water. "I'm sorry I ran from the club."

"I know baby," said Edward as he pulled me to him and hugged me. "I'm not upset. It was just one of those stupid things that happen. We're officially done with trying to go to bars. No more bars," he said with a laugh. I smiled up at him and then stood from the bed to fetch my Advil from my backpack. I eagerly popped two of them before climbing back into bed with him.

We were on day two in Barcelona and we had no idea what to do today, although I wasn't exactly feeling up to a museum or anything that worked my brain. "Do you want to go to the beach?" I nodded my head in agreement. A day of lying on the beach was exactly what I needed. I took a quick shower and tossed on my bathing suit, covering it with some short jean shorts and a tank top. Edward had disappeared down to the lounge while I was getting ready, and when he came back, he showered and dressed in record time. I packed our beach bag with our essentials and then we left, hand in hand, to hail a cab in front of our hostel. It only took about ten minutes to drive there, but Edward knew I wasn't up for any major walks, and I appreciated how he seemed to know me better than I did some days.

When we finally got to the beach and Edward had found a spot that he liked, we spread our towels down and covered each other in sunscreen, before lying down on our stomachs to relax. The sun wasn't boiling hot, but it was a cloudless sky, so I was certain I would have a decent tan before we left later in the day. "So, I thought we could go to the Picasso museum tomorrow. Would you be up for that?" he asked curiously as he rolled onto his side.

"Yeah, I should be feeling good enough by then," I replied casually as I took a sip of the water we had brought with us. "Is there anything else you want to do? Were you checking out Barcelona sights down on the computer earlier?"

"No, I was working on Paris when I was down there. I found us a good train that leaves on Thursday evening at like eight, and gets us in to Paris around seven in the morning. You wanted a night train right?" he said with a mischievous grin.

"Yes babe, I want to take a _ride_ on the night train," I whispered seductively as he leaned forward and kissed my neck.

"Good, cause after getting cock blocked last night, I'm eager for what that train holds for us," he said as we both laughed. We spent the rest of the afternoon lying in the sun. Edward left for a bit to get us some lunch at one of the cantinas along the beach. Luckily, I didn't get approached by any strangers this time and Edward seemed pleased by this. A little bit after lunch, Edward and I headed into the water for a quick swim and my headache was finally gone. The day was peaceful yet enjoyable. Edward and I left for the hostel around five and were relieved when we got back to not see Chris or any of his friends. If I never saw them again it would definitely be too soon. We had a casual evening, which I enjoyed. Edward teased me about some of our plans for Paris, but never once told me exactly what we were doing.

"You agreed Bella, you can't take it back now," he said forcefully as he started to tell me about the hotel he had booked. It sounded extravagant and was probably even worse in person. "You're going to love it. I promise," he said as he pulled me towards him and we continued to watch the movie that he had put on. I ended up falling asleep on the couch beside him, and he carried me into our bed, leaving me in my small t-shirt and boy shorts. I cursed myself again when I woke the next morning and found I was dressed. Edward however, had opted to go commando and as he slept beside me, I started drooling a little. I watched him sleep for a few moments before I looked at the clock and saw it was just before nine in the morning. Time for a little wake up call, I thought to myself as I pulled the covers over my head and immediately dove head first onto his cock, sucking it deep into my mouth.

"Ugh," he moaned out loud, but he didn't wake up completely. I wrapped my hand tightly around the base of his cock and began moving my head up and down with more force as I sucked it furiously, my tongue rolling over every square inch of his hardness. He groaned again and moved a little more, but I never saw him lift the covers to check on me. I didn't care though. My hand reached down and cupped his balls, rolling them in my hand gently as I grazed my teeth along the underside of him, eliciting another moan, this one a lot louder. "What the fuck?" he called out moments later. At least he had finally woke up, I told myself as I kept going. The blankets were instantly pulled from my head and Edward looked down on me with a smile, I shrugged my shoulders gently and forced him deeper into my mouth, relaxing my throat so I could take him as deep as possible.

"Holy Fuck Bella," he yelled out again as I felt him spasm beneath me and fill my mouth with his hot cum. I swallowed him down greedily and looked at him with a sly smile. "That was fucking awesome and very unexpected."

"Well, I had to get you up somehow," I said with a giggle as I stood from the bed and headed towards the shower. "Come on Edward, I have to get you all clean baby." He climbed from the bed like a bat out of hell and followed me into the bathroom where we enjoyed a quick shower before getting dressed and heading out for some breakfast.

We grabbed some coffee and muffins on our way to the Picasso Museum, where Edward picked up a headset and a map of the exhibits. "You sure love maps huh?" I said with a laugh as he glared down at me.

"I haven't gotten us lost once, have I Bella?" he added smugly as he kissed the top of my head and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, leading me into the museum. We spent almost five hours exploring some of Picasso's best works and I think Edward was really impressed by everything he saw, although he hardly spoke while we walked around. I was partial to the portraits Picasso had painted, specifically the watercolor he had done of his father called 'Portrait of the Artist's Father'. Edward had just laughed at the title with ease.

"Wow, talk about original 'Portrait of the Artist's Father? He couldn't come up with something more interesting. We can clearly see what the hell it is, why even put a name with it?" I rolled my eyes at his rant and we continued onto the next exhibition in silence. Edward preferred works from his cubist period, which were equally impressive in my opinion.

When ended up leaving the museum we realized we had missed lunch yet again. We agreed to an early dinner and decided to go out for a quiet evening at the movies. They had an English theatre a few blocks from our hostel, so we headed straight there after dinner to find out what they were playing. Edward and I preferred different types of movies, but tonight I didn't care what we saw. They were only playing two movies, which made the choice even easier. We ended up choosing some action flick that Edward had wanted to see.

When we were finally alone in the movie theatre, I pulled up the arm rest between us and nuzzled close to him. I had thought of getting between his legs again to give him another blow job, but he really seemed interested in the movie, so I just enjoyed the two hours of cuddling with him. I had almost fallen asleep by the time the movie was over and Edward looked at me with a small frown.

"Did you even see the movie?" he asked in frustration.

"Not really, but I didn't care. I loved just being in your arms. It was worth the eight bucks you paid to get us in here," I said with a small smile as he kissed my forehead.

"What am I going to do with you Bella Swan?"

"Umm… love me forever?" I questioned with a laugh as we stood from our seats and walked in peace back to our hostel. We slipped into bed as soon as we got home, naked as per usual and everything felt right again. Sure, I still had the weight of the world on my shoulders as I worried about how and when to talk to Edward, but I put that thought at the back of my mind for the time being. I wanted to get into Paris before we talked. I certainly didn't want to ruin our night on the train tomorrow. Edward was way too excited for that, and I wanted to give it to him more than anything else right now.

Our final day in Barcelona was pretty boring. We had a long breakfast at a nearby café and then we headed back to our room to pack all of our stuff. We each checked our emails, and had nothing waiting for us so we watched TV in our room for a bit before heading off to the train station. We purchased our ticket for our private sleeper and grabbed a quick dinner at the station. Edward bought some snacks and a book of mad libs before we headed up to the platform to board our train. We were both pleased because this sleeper was a lot more spacious than the last one we had. It was one bed and it was a decent size, it would certainly be suitable for all the sex we planned to have. I watched with a grin as Edward sat on the bed, bouncing up and down.

"This will do just fine," he declared with a laugh.

**EPOV**

Finally, Bella and I were in a sleeper car and I was going to thoroughly enjoy all the train sex we were going to have. I had actually dreamt about it the night before last and was shocked when I woke up to find Bella sucking on my cock; it was like a dream come true. Earlier in the week, I had snuck onto the computers down in the lounge and made our arrangements for Paris. I had our hotel room booked, and even had arranged for a car to pick us up from the train station. I was pulling out all the stops here, our last official city before we headed to London for one night and then went home.

I was still having a difficult time dealing with the prospect of us being apart, but I was trying to focus on the advice Alice had given me and I was trying to ignore it. Every time Bella tried to talk to me about it, I shut her down, insisting that nothing mattered but the two of us together, right now. She seemed frustrated with me at times, but I didn't care. The small amount of frustration was worth all the time we spent together enjoying ourselves. We sat on the bed of our car for a little bit just relaxing. Bella was reading her book that she hadn't gotten very far into since starting the trip and I skimmed through my iPod listening to various songs. Bella had one ear bud in and I had the other. It was calm and casual, and I reveled in the time together. I found myself kissing her head or running my hands through her hair a little more than necessary. Sometimes I felt like I was trying to memorize every single strand of her luscious hair before we were apart.

The train was fairly slow moving, but I didn't complain one bit. It was only about an hour after the train left the station that Bella put down her book and turned around to face me, the ear bud falling from her ear. She grabbed the iPod and shut it off, putting it on top of my backpack which was beside our bed. I looked up at her with love and desire; and I could tell she felt the exact same. I reached up and grabbed her face in my hands, pulling her to me so that I could kiss her passionately. Our lips touched and it was like everything around us disappeared. My fingers traced along her back and I gently pulled her shirt over her head, to reveal her sexy black lace bra she had bought earlier in the trip. As she leaned back from me, I stared at her intently. "You're beautiful," I admitted honestly as she tugged my shirt from my body and tossed into onto the floor.

"You're gorgeous," said Bella as she bent forward and started to kiss my chest sweetly. I felt her fingers dance across my ribs and down towards my waist, where I felt her undoing my belt, pulling it from me swiftly and dropping it with the shirt. "I could kiss your body all day." I let out a low moan at the thought of her doing just that and then I felt her hand undoing the button and zipper of my jeans. I lifted my ass up and watched in fascination as Bella pulled both my jeans and boxers from my body easily.

"You're getting much better at that," I said with a grin as she licked her lips and her eyes appeared focused on my hard cock.

"Practice makes perfect," she said as she wrapped her hand around me and pumped me slowly. It was sheer agony of the best possible kind. I watched in awe as she lowered her mouth onto me, surrounding me in one quick movement. I groaned again and kept my eyes trained on her. Her slick pink lips slid up and down on my hardness, eliciting moan after moan from my mouth. I couldn't take my eyes from her if I tried; she was that beautiful to me. After only a few minutes, I wanted to cum so badly, it was taking all my willpower to control myself.

"I need to be inside of you Bella," I panted breathlessly as she released her grip from me and leaned back onto her knees. She was almost fully dressed; the only thing missing was her t-shirt. Everything was usually reversed, with Bella naked first. I laughed quietly as I thought about this and then watched as she stood from our bed and peeled every scrap of fabric from her body seductively. She probably wasn't even trying to do a strip tease for me, but it seemed like just that. When she was finally nude, I grabbed her hand and pulled her back to me on the bed, positioning her onto her back, with me between her legs. I reached for the condom from the side pocket of my backpack and quickly covered myself, eager to be inside of her.

"Edward," whispered Bella as she looked up at me with her luscious brown eyes. I simply nodded my head, knowing full well exactly what she needed. I positioned myself between her thighs and I could feel the heat emanating from her. I used my hands to spread her thighs apart further and slowly slid myself inside of her. We moaned in pleasure simultaneously as Bella gripped the sheets on the bed for support. I moved my hands up to her hips and used them to slowly thrust myself inside of her at a gentle pace. I looked down at Bella and she looked impatient.

"What do you want Bella?" I asked calmly. If Bella wanted more, she needed to tell me. I watched her bite her bottom lip as she quivered beneath me, but no words came from her mouth. "Tell me Bella."

"I want… I want it harder and faster," she said as she moaned louder. Her confession spurred me on and before I could comprehend it, I was grasping her hips so tightly I was certain I would leave marks. I began to plunge my cock inside her hot wet pussy as quickly as I could, pushing myself as deep inside of her as her body would allow. Her breaths were getting shorter and more pronounced and it was only a few minutes later that I felt her tremble beneath me, so I knew she was almost ready.

I reached between us and rubbed her hard clit, which was the factor that drove her over the edge. She started panting my name as her entire body tensed and she exploded in pleasure. As I felt her tense, her body practically milked my cock involuntarily and then I groaned in ecstasy as I came inside of her. Train sex was even better than I expected, I thought to myself as I looked down at Bella who looked spent.

"That was so worth it," she said with a wide grin as I rolled myself beside her and pulled her into my arms tightly.

"I agree, train sex is definitely fucking hot." I held her to me and I noticed she was shivering. I pulled the blankets up over our naked bodies, never once letting go of her. I honestly felt like I could live on this train with her forever if someone would stop by every now and again with snacks. I watched Bella closely as we lay together. She would smile while she slept, and I prayed she was dreaming of us. It was almost an hour later than I ended up falling asleep beside her, wishing with everything I had that the train would never pull into the station in Paris.


	27. Paris

**A/N: Another long chapter, well long for me, not so long for other fanfic writers. Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys day one in Paris. Romanceward comes out in full force for this chapter.**

**Oh, on a side note. I rarely give fic recs, but I recently discovered one I think some of my fans might like. It's called 'Coming to Terms' by GinnyW 31. Seriously great story. It is a work in progress though, so you'll have to wait for the updates, but I was hooked after one chapter. If any of you have any recommendations, please feel free to share.**

**BPOV**

I was so tired by the time our train pulled into the station in Paris. Edward and I had managed a few hours sleep, in between all of the sex we ended up having in the sleeper car. I wasn't complaining, even though I knew I would probably be a little sore this morning when we finally started to walk around town. We grabbed our backpacks as Edward stopped for a moment to take a quick picture of our room. I giggled easily at him and grabbed his hand in mine, pulling him from the train and down onto the platform. We were heading out the main entrance of the building, when I noticed a man dressed all in black holding a little sign that said 'Cullen'.

"Is that for us?" I asked as I pointed at him and Edward's expression went from nervous to calm.

"Yup," he declared with a grin as we walked over to the chauffeur and he took our bags, tossing them in the back of the town car.

"You haven't missed a beat, have you?" I asked him as he pulled me into his arms once we were comfortable in the back seat. The driver clearly knew where he was going because he ignored us and simply left the station. The drive seemed to take a lot longer than I expected, but then I realized we were also doing a small driving tour of Paris. Edward kept pointing out sights to me with a big smile on his face. "Did some research?"

"Just a little," he said with a chuckle as he held his hand up and held his thumb and index finger together closely. I nodded in response and stared out the window at the Grand Palais that we were currently idling in front of while waiting for some pedestrians to cross the road. It was only about ten minutes later when we pulled up in front of the hotel. It was gigantic. My mouth gaped open in shock the entire time we stood out front and again when we walked into the lobby. Edward approached the front desk and talked in broken French to the attendant, who simply smiled and nodded at him. I sat down in one of the oversized chairs which looked like it had come straight out of the Palais of Versailles. It was ornate and I felt uncomfortable sitting on it, even though it was actually pretty comfortable. There were massive flower arrangements on every single surface and a gigantic crystal chandelier in the middle of everything. It took me a few moments before I even noticed the name on the door of the hotel, the Ritz. Jesus Christ, this place probably cost like two grand a night. I felt like an idiot for agreeing to this all of a sudden. As I sat there with my head buried in my hands, I didn't even hear Edward walk over to me.

"Ready to go Princess?" he said as he held out his hand towards me. I tentatively grabbed it and walked in silence as he led me towards the elevator. The nickname he had given me felt rather fitting, but I cringed at it. I didn't feel like a princess, I felt like an imposter. As we stepped from the elevator and towards our room, I immediately noticed that the doors were not as close together as they were in most hotels.

"It's a suite isn't it?" I asked, feeling a little disgusted. This hotel room probably cost as much as my tuition for the first year of college.

"Bella, you promised you would do your best to enjoy this. So, don't be so upset, please. I'm just trying to pamper you. Give you a little taste of the finer things. It's not like anyone cares how much I spend on this trip anyways. They're probably all shocked at how little I have spent so far." I nodded my head as Edward slowly opened the door to our room. I felt the overwhelming urge to run away, but I didn't. Instead, I clasped his hand tightly in mine and walked in. The bed was the first thing I noticed, it was huge but it fit within the confines of the room. There was a mural on the wall behind the bed, and it looked lovely. There was a big couch, which looked just as ornate as the chairs in the lobby. The TV was hidden in an oversized armoire, but there was also a small stereo, which I could appreciate. Edward released my hand so that he could tip the bellman that had just brought our bags up, and I walked into the bathroom.

"This place is probably bigger than my future dorm room," I said out loud as I laughed at the echo that bounced from the walls. I had never been in a bathroom that echoed. It was surreal; I thought to myself as I ran my finger along the marble countertop and looked at the monstrous bathtub longingly.

"Are you okay?" asked Edward as he came up behind me and snaked his arms around my waist pulling me close to him.

"Yeah, it's all just a bit overwhelming, but I promise I will try to not let the extravagance bother me, okay?" Edward nodded his head and then ran towards the main room, throwing himself on the bed. "What should we do today?"

"Well, it is only like ten o'clock, we could go out and grab a bite to eat and then hit a museum or gallery. There are plenty of them nearby, including Musee de l'Orangerie, which houses an extensive impressionist collection, according to the woman who checked us in."

"Yeah, that sounds good. I probably need almost a full day to do the Louvre anyways," I said with a grin. "Maybe we'll do that tomorrow?"

"Yeah, not likely. I have arranged some things for us tomorrow and the day after. We can go on Monday, how's that?" asked Edward with concern in his voice. I didn't care when I did it, as long as I got there, so I nodded my head in agreement and grabbed some clothes from my backpack and headed into the shower to get freshened up.

When I came back into the room, Edward was nowhere to be found. I dried my hair and brushed it so it was straight and left it to dry completely against my bare shoulders. I had put on a tank top and a pair of khaki shorts, and when I went looking for my backpack, I couldn't find it either. I stepped into the closet and some of my clothes were hanging in place. Even a few of Edward's shirts were hanging from the rod. I was confused. My backpack sat in the corner of the closet beside Edwards, and they were both empty. I searched through the dressers and finally found the rest of our clothes. I decided to not stress about it and lay down on the couch to wait for him to return. I was almost asleep when he padded into the room quietly. I heard him move around and walk into the closet, but I thought nothing of it. Edward didn't wake me up; instead he kissed my forehead sweetly and headed into the bathroom to enjoy his own shower.

I heard the sound of the water going off almost twenty minutes later and it startled me from my sleep. I looked towards the coffee table and saw a small plate with various pastries on it and a cup of coffee, which sadly, was a little cool. I took a drink of it greedily though, desperate for the caffeine. Even cold, it was better than most of the coffee we had on our trip.

"I see you're awake," said Edward as he strolled into the room dripping wet, with a towel slung loosely around his waist. God he was sexy, I thought to myself as he reached down for a croissant and his towel opened slightly. For some unknown reason I gasped, even though I had seen him naked hundreds of times. I was just being bashful and as Edward looked at me with concern, I just shook my head and took another sip of coffee.

"Where did you go? Other than to get coffee and pastries?" I asked curiously.

"I went to meet the concierge. He has arranged a few things for us over the next few days and I wanted to make sure everything was all set." Edward looked down at me all smug and confident before he walked towards the dresser and pulled out some boxers and a pair of dark green knee length shorts.

"Oh," I replied casually as I watched in disappointment as he covered every inch of his sexy body with his annoying clothes. It was merely a few minutes later when Edward grabbed my hand and pulled me from the couch.

"I do believe we have a gallery to get to," he said with a grin as I grabbed my purse, making sure my camera was still inside, and I followed him out the door. As we walked through the lobby, I watched Edward wink at the concierge with a big smile. I was certain I was in for something big, but I had no clue what was going on.

We walked down the street towards the gallery, which was located in a large park directly across from the Louvre. I stared at the gallery as we walked past, and I wished it was Monday already. I even waved goodbye to it as we crossed the street and Edward led me into the Musee de l'Orangerie. When we finally entered after paying our fees, I was pleased by what we found inside. Hundreds of works by some of the greatest artists like Renoir, Monet, Modigliani and Rousseau. I was in heaven. I strolled through every single exhibit, with Edward beside me, listening intently to his headset.

"Did you know Monet tried to kill himself by jumping into the Seine?" asked Edward curiously when we had stopped in front of one of my favorite works 'Argenteuil' by Claude Monet.

"Um… No I didn't know. That's quite a random fact," I laughed to Edward as we moved towards the next piece which was by Amedeo Modigliani.

"Did you know Modigliani's wife killed herself two days after he died? He was only 35," said Edward confidently as I glared at him again.

"That's just morbid. Do they tell you anything happy on that damned thing?" I asked with a laugh of curiosity, as my finger tapped against his headset.

"Not yet," said Edward as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and we headed into the next exhibit. It was just after four in the afternoon when we walked from the gallery and into the bright sunlight. "Would you mind if we took a little side trip before heading back to the hotel to get ready for dinner?" I nodded my head in agreement as Edward flagged down a cab and said 'Louis Vuitton' to him. I sat there and prayed he was not getting me anything there. When the cab arrived at the store less than ten minutes later, Edward ran in to the store, asking the driver to wait for a moment. I sat in the backseat for about five minutes before Edward came back in the car with a decent sized bag.

"Please tell me that is not for me," I said anxiously as he looked over at me and kissed my cheek.

"Alice ordered it. I just had to pick it up for her," he said with a big smile as he asked the driver to take us back to the hotel. Relief washed over me when he mentioned it was for Alice. Thank god, I was being spoiled enough on this trip; I didn't need whatever the hell was in that bag too.

**EPOV**

I knew I would never hear the end of it if I forgot to pick up the handbag Alice had ordered, and thankfully, Bella was fine with the little side trip we took to get it. I felt slightly disappointed that she didn't seem to want something as fancy as a Louis Vuitton bag, but then again, one of the reasons I loved her was because she was so easy going and casual about everything. She didn't care about expensive brand names and it was a refreshing change of pace from the girls back in Boston.

"Shit," I muttered to myself as we walked through the lobby towards the elevator.

"What's wrong?" asked Bella in concern, as she gripped my hand tighter in hers.

"I forgot to tell François what time we wanted dinner tonight," I said with a grin. "Why don't you head up to the room and I'll be there in a minute," I offered sweetly as Bella kissed me on the lips and stepped into the elevator, clutching her key card in her hand. The moment the elevator closed, I ran towards the concierge desk to find Francois there with a big smile on his face.

"Bon Soir Monsieur Cullen," he said to me politely.

"Is everything ready for tonight?" I asked nervously as I noticed the smile never faded from his face. My cheeks would be hurting badly if I had to smile all day like he did, but he probably got paid enough to make the pain worthwhile.

"Oui. The delivery will be made in fifteen minutes with dinner set to arrive thirty minutes after," said Francois in his broken English, which sounded very funny combined with his French accent. I stifled a laugh as I realized he sounded like Jean Girard from Talladega Nights. I thanked him and gave him an additional tip before heading upstairs to Bella.

"Everything alright?" she asked when I got into the room only a few minutes later. She had been pacing around the room nervously, waiting for me to return.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna go have a quick shower," I said rudely as I ran to the bathroom. I was desperate to be finished so that I could get Bella into the shower before the expected delivery came. When I stepped out of the shower, I practically forced Bella in.

"What's going on Edward?" she asked in both concern and confusion.

"I promise it's all good. You just have to do what I say for the next half hour or so." Bella simply nodded her head in agreement and reluctantly walked into the bathroom to have a shower. It was approximately two minutes later when I heard a knock on the door and I answered it immediately, hoping Bella wouldn't hear anything from the bathroom. When I opened the door, there was a young man standing there holding two garment bags. I tipped him generously and quickly closed the door behind him, shoving the bags in the closet.

"Okay, what weird things are you going to have me do next?" asked Bella when she stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a bathrobe. She looked just as sexy in a big fluffy white bathrobe as she had in nothing at all.

"It's nothing weird. I don't do weird. Kinky maybe, weird not so much," I said with a laugh as I watched her cock an eye brow in confusion. I walked to the closet and fetched her garment bag. "Here go put this on and do your hair and makeup. You got about half an hour to get ready before dinner."

"Um… okay." Bella sighed, but she walked back into the bathroom for a moment. She hung the garment bag on the back of the door without even looking inside. She came back into the main room and grabbed a few things from one of the dresser drawers and then locked herself in the bathroom. I went to the closet and opened up my bag to check out the suit I had ordered for the night. When I had left earlier in the morning I had Francois request a suit for me from Hugo Boss and a dress for Bella from Badgley Mischka. I hadn't seen her dress, but I was sure it would be perfect for her. My suit was dark blue, with a white button down dress shirt and a dark blue tie. It wasn't overly formal, it certainly wasn't a tuxedo, but it was perfect. I dressed quickly and paced around the room waiting for Bella to come out of the bathroom.

"There's no shoes," Bella called out from behind the locked door.

"We're not leaving the hotel, so don't worry about it," I replied as I heard a soft knock on the door. I went to answer it, finding a waiter with his room service cart standing there. I didn't even need to tell him what to do; he simply pushed the cart through the room and onto the small balcony and began to set everything up on the small table sitting out there. We had a beautiful view of Paris and we were definitely going to enjoy it tonight. After he left, it was only a few more nervous minutes until Bella strolled out of the bathroom.

She looked beautiful, but clearly felt awkward. She had put her hair up loosely on her head, with a few strands falling down onto her long neck. The dress was perfect against her slightly tanned skin, it was a metallic silver and fell to just above her knee. It wasn't tight, except up near her breasts, but it looked gorgeous on her. "You look stunning," I said as I walked towards her and offered her my hand. She took it easily in hers and then blushed a deep shade of pink.

"So, we're not going out but you made me get dressed up in something that probably cost like a thousand bucks?" Bella asked incredulously as I walked her towards the balcony where our dinner was waiting.

"It wasn't a thousand dollars Bella, so you can relax there. I just wanted you to feel beautiful. Lord knows you won't feel anything but tired after the next two nights," I said with a big grin as I held out the chair for Bella to sit down.

"Are you going to tell me what we are doing?" she asked anxiously as I kissed the nape of her neck and pushed her chair in towards the table.

"Tomorrow is our birthday. Remember how we said we wanted to do something memorable for our birthday, since we couldn't celebrate them together. Well that is tomorrow."

"Um… alrighty then," laughed Bella as she looked out over the city from where she was sitting. "This is beautiful Edward."

"Yeah, I know. I got skills," I laughed as I took the lid from our plates so that we could have dinner. Francois arranged for an awesome bottle of wine to go with our meal, which consisted of chicken cordon blue, various vegetables and some of the best scalloped potatoes I had ever had. We ate dinner in relative silence, talking about the city and things we still wanted to do.

"We're not going to do anything major on our last night in London are we?" Bella asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Please don't start talking about when we leave," I replied unhappily. "I still need to change my flight so that we are flying back together. Let's just enjoy tonight okay? I don't want to do anything in London but show you how much I love you." Bella nodded her head and turned back towards her dinner as I took a tentative sip of wine. I spent most of my evening glancing over at Bella and trying to memorize every single one of her features. She caught me staring at her on more than one occasion and I just shrugged my shoulders and chuckled lightly. When we had finished eating, I grabbed her hand and led her back into our room. I turned down almost all the lights and turned on the stereo, plugging my iPod into the back so that we could listen to something decent, instead of whatever French crap was on the radio. Bella looked at me in confusion again as I walked closer to her and wrapped my arm around her waist, grabbing her right hand in mine.

"Are we dancing?" she asked with a nervous grin and I nodded my head.

"My mom made me take dancing classes when I was younger, for all those damned debutante balls I had to go to years ago. So now, I'm putting it to good use."

"I don't dance. Well, I bump and grind, I don't slow dance," said Bella as she blushed furiously within my grasp.

"You don't have to dance Bella. Just follow my lead and you'll be fine. I would never let anything bad happen to you," I said confidently as I kissed the tip of her nose and Van Morrison began to fill the room.

"I love this song," sighed Bella as she gripped me tighter and she started to sing along, "_We were born before the wind, also younger than the sun_… Charlie used to sing this to me when I was younger." I moved Bella across the wooden floor with me, smiling from ear to ear. The dance lessons were clearly paying off because even though she seemed nervous, we were still standing, and that was a victory to me.

"Jazz and I used to listen to a lot of Van Morrison when we got stoned," I admitted ruefully. "Okay, so it's not as sweet as your story, but it's still true," I said with a deep laugh as Bella rested her head on my shoulder and wrapped her arm around my back.

"I don't care if your stories involve pot or drinking or anything else, you should know by now that I just want to know everything about you," said Bella as I felt her breathing against my chest. We danced around the room for what seemed like hours, as the songs changed from Van Morrison to some classical stuff that I had on there. When I glanced over at the clock, I was shocked to see it was almost midnight and we had a car arriving to pick us up at eight for our trip.

"Okay, I hate to cut this party short because I had planned to do several very naughty things to you tonight, but we desperately need to go to bed because we have to be up early." Bella pulled away from me and looked at me with disappointment in her eyes. "I promise to make it up to you tomorrow, okay babe?" Bella nodded her head and slowly unzipped her dress, letting it fall to a puddle on the floor beneath her. I stared at her, dressed in the white and red bra and thong set she had bought in Vienna. I cursed myself for dancing with her for so long when I could have been peeling these poor excuses for clothes from her body. I couldn't move, my eyes trained on Bella as she finally took everything off and bent over to pick up the dress, which she put on a hanger and hung back in the closet. I was hard and tonight was going to suck because we really did need to sleep in preparation for tomorrow.

I took off my suit and hung it up in the closet beside her dress. When I was finally naked, I crawled into bed beside her, making sure the covers were tight against us. I wrapped my arm around her and kissed her neck sweetly before humming 'Into the Mystic' to her quietly. She fell asleep minutes later and I stayed up longer than I should have, dreading the fact that we were going to be apart soon.

**A/N: Next up… PARIS DISNEYLAND! LOL. BTW... I think Chapter 31 or 32 will be the reveal. When I end up posting it, which I hope will be before Friday, I will be posting like four chappies at once. Who loves ya baby? Thanks for the patience.**


	28. Paris Part 2

**A/N: Thanks again to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I can tell a lot of you are getting eager for the reveal, but please remember, I'm a sucker for a happily ever after. Hell, I'm even considering a sequel, so you know it can't be too bad of a reveal if I'm considering that.**

**Mojoka- Thanks for the story rec's! I'm always up for a good read. I honestly think that 'The Office' is one of my favorite unfinished works right now. That and 'Wide Awake'.**

**Gater101 –I hope I don't screw Paris up. I feel bad they haven't had sex there yet, but I was always planning their last night in London to basically be one gigantic smut fest. I should at least have him get a bj in Paris though. Ah well, there's always next chapter, which will be the segway into London.**

*** I don't own twilight, but I own virtually everything related to Blue's Clues. This chappie is for all the moms out there, just like me, who are forced to watch the same episodes of 'Mickey Mouse Clubhouse', 'Handy Manny', 'Dora the Explorer' and 'Go Diego Go'… just like me.**

**BPOV**

"Wake up sexy," said Edward as he gently nudged me, trying to wake me up from what I honestly thought was the best sleep I had ever had. This bed was like fluffy melatonin and I fell asleep only minutes after my head hit the pillow and my body instantly molded to the mattress.

"I don't want to move. Bed too comfy," I said sleepily as Edward curled up behind me and I could feel his hard on pressed against my ass. "What do we have here Edward?" I said as I rolled over to face him. I was shocked to see he was already dressed. So much for my dreams of morning nookie.

"We have some bagels and cream cheese on the table, a fresh pot of coffee and fruit too. We also have just over an hour to get down to the lobby so get your luscious ass out of bed Bella." I groaned and sat up slowly, staring longingly at the coffee.

"I will get up if you get me a cup of coffee," I said slyly as Edward quickly hopped from the bed and fulfilled my wish. Lately, he seemed to be fulfilling all of my wishes, so I never once complained. I drank the hot liquid down greedily, letting the caffeine rush through my system and then I stumbled into the shower. When I finally stepped into the room twenty minutes later, Edward was packing some stuff into my purse, including my camera and his iPod. "What am I supposed to wear?"

"Umm... shorts and t-shirt I guess," he said as I stared at his clothes. He was wearing a pair of knee length khaki cargo shorts and a short sleeved button down blue shirt, with a white t-shirt underneath it. I rummaged through the dresser drawer and pulled out my blue halter top and my short denim shorts. I was certain they would be comfortable for whatever he had planned. When we finally left the room it was just before eight o'clock. As we walked through the lobby, Edward looked the concierge and gave him a thumbs up before walking us out the front door to the waiting town car.

"Are you going to tell me where we are going?" I asked impatiently as he pulled me close to him in the backseat of the car.

"You'll see soon enough," he laughed at me as the driver pulled away from the driveway and drove easily through the streets of Paris and out into the suburbs. I kept glancing over at Edward in confusion the longer we drove, but it was almost forty minutes later when we finally stopped and I looked out the window, my mouth open in shock.

"We're at Euro Disney?" I screamed in shock.

"Well, I think they call it Disneyland Paris, but yeah," said Edward as I threw my arms around his neck in excitement. The driver took us straight to the entrance and agreed to pick us up again at 9 that night. We had just over twelve hours to spend in the park and I couldn't wait to get started. Edward fished two passes from his pocket and handed them over to the attendant who simply smiled at us and then searched through my bag, making sure I wasn't carrying any weapons of mass destruction.

The moment we entered the park itself, we had two people beside us trying to take our picture. Of course Edward had insisted on it and took the claim stub happily. I knew he was probably going to come back later in the day and make sure he got every possible souvenir with our picture on it. I even envisioned him using a Mickey Mouse shaped mouse pad with our faces on it. I shook the image from my head and gripped his hand tightly, letting him lead us through the park. We strolled down Main Street U.S.A and I glanced into every window of each of the shops lining the street as Edward scoffed at how Americanized the theme park was.

"Main Street U.S.A, really? They couldn't have done something European? If I wanted to go to Main Street U.S.A we'd be in Orlando hitting Disneyworld right now." I punched him lightly on the shoulder for his comments as I followed him towards Discoveryland. I wasn't a huge fan of roller coasters, but was willing to try anything with Edward by my side, so as we got into line to get on 'Space Mountain' I started to get a bit nervous. "What's wrong?"

"I don't like roller coasters, but I really want to go on them. I am on a mission to conquer my fear of them today," I said confidently as Edward slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me back against his chest.

"That is so fucking adorable," he remarked as he kissed my cheek and played with my hair lovingly. Luckily, the lines weren't too long at the park today, so we only waited five minutes until we got strapped into the coaster and took off down the tracks. Edward's hand gripped mine tightly as I started to let what seemed like hundreds of four letter curse words pour from my mouth. I was scared, I was cursing like a sailor and Edward sat beside me laughing at me the entire time. When the ride finally came to a stop, he kissed me forehead. "See that wasn't so bad."

"Whatever. Let's go on something less dangerous like that car ride over there," I said with a grin as my stomach slowly lowered from my throat, where it had implanted itself during the roller coaster ride. We spent the next four hours walking around, hopping on every possible ride. Some of them we enjoyed more than others and ended up going several times throughout the day. We laughed so hard we were practically crying when we got on the tea cups. A lot of the other tourists were giving us curious glances, but neither of us cared; we just enjoyed every single aspect of the day.

"I need the camera," shouted Edward shortly after we dizzily stepped from the tea cups. I pulled it from my bag and handed it to him as I watched him take a picture of a ride directly in front of us. 'Alice's Curious Labyrinth' was the name of what looked to be a gigantic hedge maze and Edward thought it was hilarious. 'Alice will get a kick out of this one." Just after Edward spoke, my stomach growled loudly and he laughed easily at me. "Okay, I hear ya," he said as he ran his fingers across my stomach. I doubt he meant it to be seductive, but it was anyways.

We walked through the park for a few moments before we stumbled upon a restaurant right outside of Sleeping Beauty's Castle. We sat down at the small café and enjoyed a quick lunch, as Edward stared at the map of the park, trying to decide what to do next. I took a big sip of my Diet Pepsi and looked at Edward, who was still focused on the map.

"Thanks," I said quietly to him as he raised his head from the table.

"For what?"

"For today. I know we're kinda celebrating our birthdays or whatever, but this is the most fun I've had with you that doesn't include sex," I said with a nervous laugh. Edward gripped my hand in his and then kissed it lightly.

"I'd do anything to make you happy Bella," he replied as he looked at me with the same longing and desire I looked at him with. "How about we head over to Frontierland next?" I nodded my head in agreement and we finished our lunch in peace. Our next ride was 'Big Thunder Mountain' and when we stepped from the ride when it was finished, I was absolutely soaked.

"Did you pay the guy to put me in the seat which would get the wettest?" I asked in frustration as we walked towards the nearest bathroom so that I could try to dry myself a bit. Edward waited patiently outside as I held my shirt up to the air dryer inside the small room. After almost ten minutes, I gave up and walked back outside to him. He was standing there with a little rose that lit up when you pressed a button. It even smelt like a real rose.

"Forgive me?" he asked sweetly as he shoved out his bottom lip into a pout. I leaned forward and sucked his lip into my mouth, wrapping my hands around his neck to pull us into a deeper kiss. When we finally parted, I laughed as I remembered we were just outside a public washroom. How Romantic!

"Nothing to forgive sweetheart," I said as I grabbed his hand and we headed to the next ride. We wandered over towards Adventureland next where Edward and I must have ridden the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at least five times before deciding we had had enough. It was one of the more enjoyable rides in the entire park, but Edward really wanted to go on the Indiana Jones Roller Coaster. I dreaded it though, because it was even bigger than Space Mountain, but I held his hand firmly in mine and did it. There was less cursing that the previous roller coaster, but I still let a few 'fucks' and 'shits' slip from my lips.

"Do you think you can handle the Tower of Terror?" asked Edward as we strolled through the park, having already ridden most of the good rides.

"What is it?" I asked nervously. He already seemed concerned that I wouldn't be able to handle it, so I probably shouldn't have asked and just said 'no'.

"It's basically a big fake elevator that drops you like 10 floors or something like that. It's over on the front lot and it looks cool," said Edward, the excitement positively beaming off of him.

"Let's go," I said as I squeezed his hand and he led me to the other side of the park. After screaming for the entire ride, I needed a drink, so Edward and I took a quick break and enjoyed some drinks and popsicles, which I sucked on a little too pornographically for his liking.

"Bella, we're in a family theme park, stop giving that Popsicle a blow job," he whispered to me tensely.

"Okay, I'll wait until later when I can give you one,' I said huskily as I grabbed his cock through the fabric of his shorts. He was hard, I knew it. I released him when I got an odd glance from one of the other tourists who were waiting in line to be served and Edward laughed uncontrollably for like five minutes, which just heightened the embarrassment factor.

We continued to enjoy the rest of the day, stopping for dinner and drinks at a restaurant in Disney Village called 'The Steakhouse' I spent most of our dinner teasing Edward and telling him how desperate I was for meat, and he was clearly getting aggravated by my comments. Before we realized it, it was almost nine o'clock and Edward and I were rushing towards the entrance to get to our car, which was waiting for us. The driver helped us in, grabbing our bags with our souvenirs and the four photos Edward had bought, and putting them in the trunk.

The moment my ass hit the soft leather of the backseat, I felt relieved. My feet hurt a bit, but it was all worth it. Edward nuzzled close to me and as I listened to his breathing, I fell asleep. He had carried me up to our room and laid me on our bed, pulling the covers over me. I could hear him speaking in the background, to the bellman I guessed, who had brought our bags up. Everything was fuzzy, but I felt Edward remove my shoes and shorts before he climbed into bed with me a few minutes later, wrapping his arms around me. The last thing I remembered was him telling me he loved me as he hummed 'Into the Mystic' again.

**EPOV**

Disneyland Paris was everything I had imagined and more. Bella and I had an awesome time and all of our worries about our impeding separation disappeared completely. It was actually sort of liberating. I was little disappointed when she ended up falling asleep in the car, but I couldn't blame her. I was exhausted myself; I just wanted to her finish on me what she had started on the Popsicle earlier in the day.

When I finally stirred from my sleep the next morning, I was surprised to see Bella wasn't in bed beside me. She was pacing around the room nervously, clutching her hair in her hands and she looked like she had been crying. As I stood from the bed and stepped towards her, she looked like she had been crying for a while. Her face was red and splotchy, her hands were white from being so tense and she looked like a completely different person. My heart ached just seeing her in pain. "Bella," I said anxiously as I moved a little bit closer to her. She quickly released her hair and turned around in shock to see me awake.

"I hope I didn't wake you," she replied tersely as she used the back of her hand to wipe away any tears that had recently fallen. It didn't help her look any better.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I walked closer to her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders, pulling her tight to me.

"It's nothing," she said casually, which I knew was a lie.

"It can't be nothing babe, if you are standing here walking around the suite, pulling at your hair and crying." I was kind of furious at her for not telling me what was going on, but when she spoke her next words, everything fell into place.

"I was thinking about us being apart, and since you don't want to discuss it, we're not going to. I'm gonna go shower. Can we check our emails before we leave for the Louvre?" I nodded my head and watched in silence as she walked into the bathroom, hearing the click of the lock behind her. I had no idea she was so tormented about our separation. I had continual anxiety about it all, but I never told Bella about it. I shook the concerns from my head and decided to call room service to bring us some breakfast instead. I ordered two big plates of pancakes and some fruit, coffee, milk and juice. Everything arrived just as I had finished in the bathroom.

We ate breakfast in complete silence, neither of us speaking. It was awkward and I hated every single second of it, but I didn't know what to say to her to make everything better. As she finished her last bit of pancake, Bella looked up at me expectantly. "Are you ready to go?" she asked anxiously as I took one last sip of my coffee and nodded my head. We wandered about the lobby for a few moments before we found their small business center, complete with computers. It had been several days since either one of us had logged on to check our email, and Bella seemed particularly eager to see if she had anything. She appeared to have one from Angela because she spent several minutes reading before laughing loudly. I had one from Alice and that was it.

_Big Brother,_

_I heard from the good folks at Louis Vuitton that you picked up my bag. Thank You Thank You Thank You. There isn't anything exciting happening around here. Em and Rosalie had a big fight a few days ago and then spent the next couple of days making up all over the house. Almost everyone could hear them going at it and a few of the staff complained about having to clean up after them, so that was pretty funny._

_How are things going with you and Bella? Are you keeping up with the 'let's not talk about being apart' thing that I suggested. You got a bunch of mail from NYU the other day, but I didn't open it. I left it on your desk. Mom and Dad said they would be home when you get back, but I wouldn't hold your breath. I think I've seen them a total of five days the entire summer._

_Anyways, I have to go. Can't wait to see you in a few days. Play safe with the other kids and don't forget 'sex is cleaner with a packaged wiener.' That was from Emmett. In fact he's standing over my shoulder as I type this to make sure I do it. Fucking moron._

_Love You_

_Ali_

I laughed at her quick email, fondly recalling my family back home and eager to see them. Bella looked over at me, she had clearly finished with her emails and I shot her a remorseful glance as I finally started a reply to Alice. It was short and sweet, nothing too exciting. I pulled up a separate website and logged into my Expedia account to that I could change my flight out of London to the same one Bella was on. Thankfully, there were still some seats available. I booked one in first class and decided I would switch with whatever person ended up beside Bella. They would be grateful, just like the kool-aid man had been on the flight over from New York.

I mentioned to Alice that my flight plans had changed and gave her specifics such as the number and time of arrival. I then changed my connecting flight from JFK to Logan, so that everything worked perfectly. I had a one hour layover before heading home to Boston. As I finished my email and my flight changes, I looked over at Bella and she looked anxious. I hit send on my email and printed out the pages with my flight information, quickly shoving them in my pocket. "I'm ready. Sorry I took so long, I made my flight changes," I said casually as Bella gave me a small gentle smile. "Let's get to the Louvre."

We walked in to the building only ten minutes later, and I was really glad that I had booked us a hotel near the gallery. Bella's eyes opened in excitement as I paid our entrance fees and we both grabbed a headset to listen along to information on all the exhibits. It took several hours, we but we ended up walking through most of the museum. We saw so many different forms of art, it was a little overwhelming; even Bella seemed to think so. We spent the most time staring at the Mona Lisa, but then again, I think the majority of the people in the gallery did the same. At around three o'clock, Bella and I decided to go and visit the Musee d'Orsay, which was just down the street a bit. The gallery contained more paintings that Bella was actually interested in, such as Cezanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir and Degas. When we finally stepped into one of the rooms that held some works by Claude Monet, Bella was particularly enthralled. We had already seen several of his works in past galleries, but today seemed different.

"Did you know 'Water Lilies' is at the Art Institute in Chicago? You should go and see it once you get settled at college," I suggested sweetly as Bella just shrugged her shoulders at me. I would have thought she would be more excited, after all, she was always mentioning how much she adored Monet.

"I did know that Edward. We're listening to the same recording. But there are several different versions of Water Lilies, each with a different date. The Art Institute has the one I like best though," she said with a little laugh as she kept staring at the picture entitled 'Le bassin aux nymphéas, harmonie verte'. It was basically just a picture of a bridge covering a small pond or something, with a lot of greenery. "This is one of my favorites from the entire trip." I nodded my head in acknowledgement of her, and she finally grasped my hand again and we kept walking. I was relieved to discover this gallery was a lot smaller than the other one, but we still ended up spending almost three hours there. When we finally left, it was just after six at night, my feet and my stomach were aching.

"We forgot to eat again," I said with a sigh as my stomach growled at me again. "Why don't we go back to the hotel and order in. I think we're both a little too tired to do anything major right now."

"Yeah, that sounds perfect. My feet thank you," said Bella with a small smile as we walked back to our hotel as quickly as our feet would take us. It was pointless to hire a cab for a five minute walk, but when we stepped out of the elevator and onto our floor, I swept Bella up in my arms and carried her the rest of the way. "I can walk you know," she stuttered in embarrassment as we passed an elderly couple in the hallway.

"So what? I just wanted to hold you close," I said with a laugh as I fumbled with the key card and dropped it on the floor. I put Bella back down and the moment we got into the room, we both yanked off our shoes and threw ourselves on the bed. We had walked a lot during our trip, but these past two days at Disneyland and the art galleries seemed infinitely worse. I ordered ourselves a simple dinner of sandwiches and got comfortable on the couch, watching CNN for a little while. We had been so out of the loop where news was concerned, but neither of us seemed to care. After we finished dinner, I ran us a hot bath, in an attempt to soothe our aching bodies. We still had two days left in Paris, and we would end up spending it on the couch if we didn't start to feel better.

After I had poured in several small bottles of bubble bath that I had room service bring up with dinner, Bella and I slipped easily into the huge tub, her back against my chest and my legs and arms wrapped around her, keeping her warm.

"So, we're going to try the long distance relationship thing right?" I asked nervously as I twirled a section of her damp hair in my hands.

"I thought you didn't want to talk about it," she snapped slightly. I frowned when I realized I had upset her, but I kept talking anyways.

"I just want to make sure we're on the same page and that we both want to try when we step off the plane in New York and go our own way for a little while." I felt Bella's hands sliding up and down my calves and along my feet, trying to make them feel better.

"You know I want nothing other than you. You're not going to go back to your former ways are you?"

"Define 'former ways'?" I said with a light chuckle. Bella smacked me on the arm and grinned at me.

"You're not going to go back to fucking anything with a pulse are you?" she asked bluntly and I was upset for a moment as I remembered the way I was before Bella came into my life.

"You're the only girl I want to fuck Bella," I replied succinctly as she turned around and kissed me sweetly on the lips.

"Good answer Edward."

**A/N: So, I've been listening to some awesome music lately, while writing the reveal and subsequent chapters. I'm not sure if I should put up a playlist, I generally tend to shy away from stuff like that, but if you are interested, let me know. If I get enough interest, I will post all the songs on my profile page when I post the new chappies in a few days. BTW.. vampiriclove 56… thanks for the 'Fine Frenzy' rec. I love 'Almost Lover' It's fucking awesome.**


	29. Paris Part 3

**A/N: So it seems I have annoyed some of the readers by drawing out the story the way I have. If you don't like it, don't read it. I have tons of readers who assure me they love the story, so I don't particularly enjoy the fact that some people feel the need to message me telling me how your story should be written or that the reveal should have happened sooner. This is my story and I first had the image of the reveal of her lie and based the story on that. The story is happening at a certain pace because of that, and I honestly don't think those who do continue to read will be disappointed.**

**Sorry… I had to get that out there. It's frustrating when you update as much as you do and yet people still feel the need to belittle the story and its progress.**

**Thanks to all my other lovely readers for their extremely kind words, especially to flightlessbird11, MaggieMay14, melferd, lysvia, mmwalker. Enjoy the smut!**

**I will be posting a playlist on my profile on Friday when I post the reveal and its subsequent chapters.**

**Oh and shadowama at Disneyland Paris, the Tower of Terror is located in the section they call 'The Front Lot, which is part of Walt Disney Studios Park, and the Big Thunder Mountain Ride in Paris features a water portion where the rider can actually get wet. I try to be as accurate as I can with my research, and I've been to Disneyland thankfully, so I think that helped, even though I'm still bitter I paid almost fifty bucks for three sandwiches, three bags of chips and three drinks and that was five fricking years ago! **_(Deep Breath Coldplaywhore!) _**Thanks for the story idea suggestion. If anyone else has any suggestions for potential stories that they might like me to write, please feel free to share. I currently don't have any concepts for future stories, except for Cabin Fever, my current WIP.**

**Phew, that was long. I don't own twilight but I do own a lot of pens that don't actually work!**

**BPOV**

"You do realize we haven't seen any of the major tourist attractions right?" I said with a sigh as I glanced at the map laid on our coffee table. Edward was busy tossing on a t-shirt, not that I thought it was necessary, but most of the places we went to seemed to have a 'no shirt, no shoes, no service' policy and I wanted to get out into the city and see something other than art or Mickey Mouse.

"That's what today is for baby. We're gonna head to the Eiffel Tower, The Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame Cathedral and all that other touristy crap," said Edward with mock excitement.

"You don't want to go?" I asked curiously as he ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up more than usual.

"Of course I want to go; I want to do anything you want to do. I just want to do something different tonight, okay?"I nodded my head in agreement, pleased that Edward would plan our events for the evening and I had the rest of the day to do all the touristy crap he laughed about. We headed out from our hotel ten minutes later and caught a cab to our first destination, Notre Dame Cathedral, which was located on a small island in the middle of the Seine called 'Ile de la Cite'. As we stepped out of the cab, we discovered they were just about to start a guided tour of the church, so Bella and I joined in. We spent the next hour learning about the history, architecture and paintings. The tour guide even went into great detail about the stained glass windows within the church itself.

"We should get married here," said Edward with a laugh as the tour stopped to discuss some of the sculptures.

"Very funny Edward. We're not Roman Catholic, and I don't want to get married in France anyways," I said honestly. "Plus, who says I'm going to marry you anyways?" He was being rather forward, and even though the thought of being with him forever had entered my mind during these last few weeks, marriage hadn't been a consideration.

"Whatever, you want this," he laughed as he motioned up and down his body with his hands.

"I might want that, but it doesn't mean I want to marry it," I said as a few of the other tourists turned around and glared at us for talking. They probably also weren't impressed that we were discussing premarital sex in a church, but I didn't care. We decided to keep quiet for the rest of the tour, fearing we'd be struck down within the church, but when we finally walked down the stairs towards the small street in front of us, Edward decided to bring it up again.

"So, do you ever want to get married?" he asked anxiously as he gripped his hand in mine and he tried to flag down a taxi with his free hand.

"Eventually, but last time I checked, I was eighteen years old. I wanted to at least graduate college before I even got engaged," I replied honestly as Edward looked at me a bit crestfallen. "You cannot seriously tell me you think about marrying me?"

"Of course I do, but it's not like I'm going to drag you down to city hall to do it today," he said with a grin. I immediately felt a wave of relief overcome me. "I just have a feeling I will be asking you one day, is all."

"Well, maybe I will say yes one day, but that day is definitely not today. Can we head to the Eiffel tower now?" he nodded his head as a cab finally stopped in front of us and Edward instructed the driver where to take us. I honestly thought that had been one of the more awkward conversations we had had since being together. Thankfully, he never brought it up again. The cab driver pulled up to the grounds and I immediately pulled my camera from my bag. I took a quick photo of the tower while Edward paid for our cab. I then pulled him into a photo of him and I together with the tower in the background. It would probably look like shit, but I didn't care.

"So, do you want to take the stairs or the elevator?" he asked with a loud laugh as we walked up to the booth to pay our entrance fees.

"You have got to be kidding me. I am not climbing up the tower. As cool as that might be, I'll stay safely within the confines of the elevator." There was no way in hell he was getting my clumsy ass to climb up the Eiffel tower. Edward laughed at me some more and paid our fees, for the elevator ride. When we got to the top, we took a bunch of pictures, including another one of us together that a lovely couple from Ireland offered to take for us. We ended up having lunch at the tower in a restaurant on the first floor. It was a bit extravagant, but getting pizza down in the plaza would have probably been just as expensive, or so Edward kept telling me when I protested about the cost of a chicken salad. Once we had finished, we decided it was time to see the Arc de Triomphe, and I was actually kind of hoping to get back to the hotel in time to have a short nap before whatever it was that Edward had planned for tonight.

"Do you want to go to Versailles now?" asked Edward once we had finished at the Arc and taken at least a dozen photos.

"Would you be upset if I said I wanted to go back to the hotel and take a nap?" I asked genuinely. Edward just nodded his head and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, as he hailed a cab to take us back to our hotel. It was only three hours later when I woke up in the comfort of the luxurious bed in our hotel room. I sat up slowly; feeling vey refreshed from the nap, and noticed that Edward was nowhere to be found. There was however, a note on the pillow beside me.

_Bella,_

_I ran out to do a few errands and also to check out train schedules to London for us. If you do wake up, take a bath or relax. I'll be home soon, with dinner._

_Love_

_-E_

I took a deep breath and calmed myself slowly. A few errands really could be anything, so I tried not to read too much into it. Instead, I followed his advice and ran myself a bath, turning Edward's iPod on random before I stepped in to let the hot water soothe my muscles. The song that played first wasn't exactly relaxing, but I liked it none the less. Nothing like a little 'Head like a Hole' by Nine Inch Nails to relax you, I laughed to myself. As I continued my long soak, I heard someone come into the room, and could only assume it was Edward.

"Bella?" he yelled out sheepishly as I called out that I was in the bathroom. "Looking good," he said with a grin as he found me lying in the tub.

"Where have you been?" I asked sweetly as I tried to get a better glimpse at the bags he had in his hands.

"Nowhere of importance. It's almost six, are you getting hungry?" he asked as he stepped back into the main room, leaving me alone in the bath. I decided not to answer him and just enjoyed the rest of my time in the tub while the song changed to 'Criminal' by Fiona Apple. Damned iPod, I cursed to myself as I sang along and slid my body down into the tub so that my hair finally got wet. "Bella… are you hungry?" Edward asked a few minutes later.

"Not really," I replied as I grabbed a nearby towel and finally stepped out of the bathtub. I dried my hair off gently with the towel and let it hang down to air dry, like I usually did, and headed into the living room where Edward was waiting patiently for me, sitting on the couch. The lights were almost all off and he had candles lit all over the room. It looks like romantic Edward is back full force this evening, I thought to myself as I walked towards him and he pulled me onto his lap. "What's with the candles?"

"There's a power outage," he replied with a chuckle as I stared towards the bathroom where the light was still on.

"Very funny Edward," I said as I leaned forward and kissed him. "What's the real answer?"

"Do I need a reason to light very expensive French candles for my girlfriend?" he asked, as he cocked his eye brow, curious to hear my answer to his question.

"I guess not. Is that where you went, to get candles?" I asked in confusion as he suddenly turned his gaze towards the bed, where a medium sized silver box was sitting. "What's that?"

"That's for you, well both of us if I'm being honest." I climbed off of Edward's lap and slowly moved towards the box that was sitting on our bed, standing out like a sore thumb. I fingered the bow on it nervously as I tried to figure out what store he bought it from. "Just open it Bella. It won't bite."

I glared at him for a moment as he laughed at my reluctance. I had images of some million dollar diamond necklace or something equally insane, but I finally decided to bite the bullet and tugged on the bow to release it, lifting the lid to reveal one of the more risqué outfits from Agent Provocateur that the saleswoman in Vienna tried to sell me. It was black lace, with no intricate details like the ribbons on the bra and panty sets I had purchased. There was a bra, which was almost see through and a matching garter belt with thigh high stockings. As I searched through the box though, there were no panties. I glanced over at him, looking a bit surprised, and he actually looked smug. He must have gotten several looks when he purchased this outfit, I thought to myself with a smile.

"So, this is what you want to do tonight?" I asked huskily as I held up the outfit in my fingers and stood before him.

"Yes," he said as he leaned back against the couch, his arms spread out on either side of him against the pillows. If he could be confident, so could I. I dropped the bathrobe, letting it pool at my feet and seductively slipped the bra on, bending over so that Edward could get a good view of my now covered breasts. Then I slowly slipped into the garter, letting it sit perfectly against my hips. I could see myself in the mirror across the room, and I looked pretty good. I grabbed the stockings and slowly moved my hands down my legs to pull the stockings up my thighs as seductively as possible, with my foot balancing on the edge of the coffee table. I heard Edward's breath hitch as I finally finished and stood before him.

"Is this what you want?"

**EPOV**

"Fuck yes," I groaned as I sat there, my cock already throbbing. Bella had put on the lingerie so slowly, teasing me constantly with her motions and she was finished she looked so hot. I did a good job picking out the set, even if the clerk had scoffed at me when I told her I didn't need the panties. I ended up buying them, just so I wouldn't have to face the embarrassment, but they were hidden away and not included in the box I had left for Bella.

I sat there and just stared at her, wishing that she would let me take a picture of her, but I was way too smart to even ask. There was no way I was ruining this moment. Bella put her index finger in her mouth and dipped her head slightly, walking towards me, finally resting by straddling my lap. "What is it you want Edward?" she panted to me as she leaned forward and licked my neck down to the edge of my t-shirt._ Fucking shirt_, I thought as I grabbed the hem of it and fiercely pulled it off of me. Bella was quick to take the hint and licked my neck again, this time dragging her tongue down to my nipple and licking it softly before biting down on it, hard.

"Fuck," I yelled out in surprise.

"Is that what you want? You want to fuck?" she asked as she pressed her lips against mine, but just for a moment. I wrapped my hands around her back and pulled her closer to me, so that her breasts were practically on my mouth.

"Yes, that is what I want," I replied as my tongue licked the cleavage of her breasts and she suddenly pulled back from me, leaving me wanting more. She was teasing the hell out of me and as much as I enjoyed it, I wanted more. I reached my hand down between our bodies and ran my finger slowly between her folds, eliciting a deep moan from her sweet mouth. I pulled the fabric of her bra down, letting it gather and cup her breasts. Her luscious skin was now completely available to me and I stared at them greedily before I grasped them both in my hands, massaging them gently at first, and then with more force. Visions kept running through my head of her on our huge bed getting ravaged by me, or Bella bent over the edge of the couch as I took what I wanted. I couldn't decide what to do to her first.

I as licked, sucked and massaged her perfect breasts; I felt Bella's hands between us, pulling on my belt and unbuttoning my pants. Suddenly, I felt empty. Bella had jumped from my lap and stood in front of me with her hands on her hips. She looked like some lingerie clad superhero. "Take your fucking clothes off," she yelled at me, with a small grin. I loved assertive Bella. I jumped up from the couch and practically ripped all of my clothes off, leaving me standing in front of the couch with nothing on. Bella held her hand out and motioned with one finger for me to follow her, which I did eagerly.

She sauntered over to the bed, her tiny perfect ass moving oh so slowly in front of me, as if to torture me. "Sit down Edward," said Bella as she pointed to the small bench at the end of our bed. I tossed all the clothes that had gathered there onto the floor and quickly took a seat. "I suppose I should thank you for the lovely gift, even if it is missing the panties," she said to me seductively as she kneeled in front of me and grasped my hard cock in her hand. I was suddenly thrilled I had spent over four hundred dollars on those small little scraps of black lace. I looked down at Bella and caught a sexy glint in her eye before she started to lick the head of my shaft. I threw my head back in pleasure and resisted the urge to wrap my hand into her hair and force her mouth down onto my hardness.

Bella had perfected the art of the blow job, and slowly slid my entire length into her mouth, sucking feverishly. "Bella, don't stop," I groaned out in pleasure as I suddenly wondered how she had gotten so good at this, and imagining kicking any guy in the face that had ever had the pleasure of her sweet mouth on them. I shook my head to clear the image of Bella with someone else, which would never happen again in my opinion, and simply enjoyed the image of my loving girlfriend servicing me. She quickened her pace and was sucking harder than ever before, but I really didn't want to cum in her mouth.

"I need to be inside you Bella," I moaned out as I looked down at her and caught her attention. She didn't pull away though, in fact, my words seemed to have spurred her on. "Please please please let me fuck you," I begged as she removed her sweet pink lips from me and leaned back on her knees.

"Well, since you asked nicely," she panted as she moved over to the couch and draped herself over it, her bare ass high in the air and her legs spread wide, she was waiting for me. I ran to the dresser and pulled out a condom, ripping it open with my teeth and sliding it onto me as I positioned myself behind her. I didn't say anything to her or make sure this was what she wanted; I grabbed her hips tightly in my hands and forced my cock inside her burning hot pussy as quickly as I could.

I let out a loud sigh of relief the moment I was buried inside of her, but relief wasn't what I really felt. I felt home again, even though it was awkward to think of it in that way. "Fuck me Edward… harder," she moaned as she gripped the pillows that were crushed against her breasts. I continued to pound my hard cock inside of her, but I knew that after her expert cock sucking, I wasn't going to be able to last as long as I wanted, so I grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her head back slightly, so I could lean forward, my lips on her ear.

"Rub your clit Bella. Play with yourself," I ordered as I released her hair and actually smacked her ass, a little too firm for my liking as I noticed a red spot begin to form almost immediately. I reminded myself to rub it later, in an effort to make it feel better and alleviate my remorse, but for now I was going to ignore it completely. Bella had seemed to enjoy it and even called out my name in a low guttural moan when my hand struck her ass.

I felt Bella's body shift beneath me and noticed her arm slide between the couch and her body, following my instructions perfectly. I gripped her hips again and thrust myself into her harder than I ever imagined. I could sense Bella was about to cum because her body shivered beneath mine, and there was no way in hell she was cold. I wrapped one arm around Bella's waist and continued to fuck her mercilessly, my own release building at that exact moment. I grabbed her leg and threw it up onto the arm of the couch, and forced my cock deep inside her wetness one more time before I finally exploded in sheer ecstasy, moaning her name like a religious chant the entire time. Just as my finger reached down and found her clit, Bella screamed out and threw her head forward onto the pillows, panting breathlessly. I picked her up in my arms and brought her to our bed, laying her down and began kissing every square inch of her exposed skin.

"Is that what you wanted Edward?" she asked with a sly grin plastered across her beautiful face.

"Fuck yes," I moaned as I leaned forward and kissed her passionately before we ended up passing out in each other's arms, completely satisfied.

The next morning I was woken by the light pouring into the room through the large windows. Bella didn't move, but I laughed slightly to see she had slept in the bra and garter set, complete with the stockings. She looked so gorgeous lying beside me; I almost couldn't believe I could be so lucky. On the downside though was the fact that we had to catch a train to London in a few hours and I was honestly dreading our last day together. The train was leaving at eleven in the morning, so Bella and I had three hours before it left the station. Once we got to London though, we had one more night together before we had to get to Heathrow to catch our flight at three in the afternoon. Time was definitely not on our side.

I stood from the bed and called the concierge to check if he had been able to get the final item I had requested from him. Francois assured me it would b brought up to the room before we left in a few hours. I still wasn't feeling overly confident because there was so little time left, but I tried not to worry about.

"Bella sweetie, we need to get up," I said to her as I nudged her body slowly, trying to wake her from her deep slumber.

"A few more minutes," she begged quietly as she rolled over onto her side, giving me a spectacular view of her breasts pressed together.

"Sorry babe, we only have a little time left. Breakfast is on its way up, so you should get into the shower sexy," I whispered to her as I moved some of her hair behind her ear and bit the lobe gently.

"You're ruining my dream Edward," she said as she sat up slowly and grabbed the sheets to cover herself up, feeling suddenly self conscious. I laughed at her, because it was only eight hours ago that she was bent over the couch begging me to fuck her. I helped her from the bed and practically pushed her into the shower so that we could get everything done as quickly as possible so that we didn't miss our train.

"I hate you," she called from the bathroom as she stepped into the shower reluctantly.

"Whatever Bella. You love me, admit it."

"Fine, I love you, but I hate this shower." Just as she finished talking, there was a soft knock at the door and when I opened it, there stood Francois, holding a small box, clearly the last item I had ordered.

"How does it look?" I asked nervously as I pulled the lid off and stared at the small bracelet which was held within it.

"Beautiful," sighed Francois as I tipped him again for all of his efforts and thanked him profusely for making Paris so memorable for us. He nodded his head politely and turned on his heel to leave me alone. I quickly closed the box and shoved it in a small pocket of my backpack so that Bella had no idea what was going on.

Bella stepped out of the bathroom ten minutes later, a small towel wrapped around her wet body and her hair dripping down her back. If I didn't think it would make us late, I would totally ravish her all over again on the couch.

"Did I hear someone else in the room?" she asked curiously as she padded towards the dresser to get out some clothes for the day.

"Nope. Must be hearing things."

**A/N: Time to go perfect Chapter 30, which is in progress!**


	30. Paris to London

**A/N: So, here's the start of the four chapters to be posted today. I will hopefully have another one up tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for the awesome reviews and the reassurances regarding the story. I should bitch more often because I got a ton new reviews. Okay, I'm not gonna bitch. I'm over it.**

**Thanks as per usual to melferd, mmwalker, flightlessbird11, lysvia (how's Chicago) and my new buddy MaggieMay14.**

**Enjoy the madness… or as I like to call this chapter "The Last Lemon in London"**

**I don't own twilight, but I do have almost every season of the Simpsons on DVD. I am so smart S-M-R-T**

**BPOV**

God how I hated Paris right now. I just wanted to be nuzzled up in the blankets, my body molded to the fancy big bed, but no, Edward had to wake me up and force me to get dressed and ready to leave for London. So much for begging him to let us stay here forever.

"How long till the car gets here?" I asked as I started to shove some of my older clothes into the bottom of my backpack, which I had just fished out the closet.

"Just over an hour," he said casually as he pulled his map of London from an inside pocket of his bag and laid it on the BED for future use. "Did you realize you forgot to call your mom on Sunday?"

"Ah well, she'll get over it," I said with a sigh, because she was probably fuming because I hadn't called. "I'll call her from London later today." Edward simply nodded his head and began to fold his new suit up and force it into his bag.

"That's a Hugo Boss Suit and you are shoving it in there like it's a pair of ratty old socks," I yelled as I walked over to help him.

"I'll get it dry cleaned when I get home, it'll be fine Bella," he said casually as he tried to reassure me. We were both a little snippy with each other this morning, but that was probably due to our impending separation and not anything else. There was only twenty nine hours left until our flight back to New York. Combine that with the approximately eight hours of flight time to get to JFK and I only had thirty seven hours left with Edward. Thirty seven hours to tell him about Columbia and admit that I had lied to him since the first day we met. I released a deep sigh of frustration and stepped into the closet to grab my dress. I too had to fold it carefully within the bag, and just like Edward would probably have to take it to the dry cleaners when I got home. I couldn't wait to face the wrath of my mother if she ever saw this gown, which probably cost more than the Kelley Blue Book value of her car right now.

It was only thirty minutes later when the front desk called us to let us know that our driver and car had arrived. Edward and I grabbed out bags and left the room behind in disarray. Edward, of course, had to stop and take a quick photo as we left. He even took a photo of the couch, which I laughed at.

"What? That's a very special couch," he said with a grin as he adjusted his bag on his shoulder and we headed to the elevator.

It was only twenty minutes later when we arrived at the train station. There had been a fair amount of traffic on the streets, but luckily our driver knew a few short cuts so that we wouldn't be late. Edward and I quickly grabbed our tickets and hopped aboard the train. When we were finally comfortable, clinging to each other for dear life, I realized this would be our last time on a train.

"Did you realize this is our last time on a train in Europe together?" I asked him as I felt his hands run through my hair slowly.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about that. I almost wished it was a night train," he laughed easily as I smiled back at him, my face radiating the love that I was feeling for him.

"Are you going to let us talk about when we are apart?" I asked curiously, trying to gauge if this was the proper time to talk to him about it.

"Not right now. We have like thirty hours left together… "

"Thirty six actually," I said as I interrupted and corrected him.

"Okay, we have thirty six hours left together, so I just want to think about you, me, and right now. Present tense only. No future tense right now. Let's just enjoy the next thirty six hours. When we are apart, we can discuss all the specific details about making this relationship last forever." I nodded my head, disappointed but resigned to my current fate. The next two hours on the train went by quickly and when we pulled into the station, I realized we never booked a hostel for tonight.

"I booked us a hotel room, so you can relax Bella," said Edward as he grabbed my backpack and handed it to me. I was pretty relieved to discover there was no town car waiting for us outside, so we get on the subway and hopped off at the Green Park Station. "Okay, so I didn't book us a room, Francois did," said Edward as we stepped out onto the street and we were directly beside the Ritz London.

"You are completely incorrigible Edward Cullen," I said with a frown as he gripped my hand into his and we crossed the street to check into the hotel.

"Francois got us a sweet deal on a small room, so don't stress," said Edward as we walked to the front desk and immediately started to get looks from the other guests. I watched as Edward talked to the attendant politely and pulled out his credit card with a big smile on his face. Once everything was taken care of, he led us up to our room, which was a vast change from our suite at the Ritz in Paris. This room was a lot smaller, and the bed was covered in a floral comforter that reminded me of something my Grandma Swan used to have. I didn't care though. All we really needed was the bed and a bathroom. We probably could have gotten the same kind of room at a hostel for only thirty bucks, but I didn't complain to Edward, he was already stressed enough about everything.

I glanced over at the clock and it was almost two in the afternoon. "What do you want to do now?" I asked anxiously as I walked around the room nervously, checking out every single item that wasn't nailed down.

"Well, we could go to Buckingham Palace or the Tower of London. I also wouldn't mind getting you alone in one of those little pods on the London Eye. We could always just stay here and make love until we have to leave tomorrow morning. All of those are suitable options for me," laughed Edward as wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him. I quickly remembered how I felt the first time he had done that, it was like our world had stopped and I didn't want to be parted from him ever.

"We should at least walk by Buckingham Palace, it would seem stupid to come to London_ twice_ and not see it," I said with a small grin as Edward kissed my cheek.

"Let's go then," he said happily as he grabbed my purse and my hand, pulling me from the room. It was only fifteen minutes later when we found ourselves walking outside in front of the palace wondering if we should go inside for a tour. We decided not to, instead opting to just walk around town with no real specific place to go. We had been walking east along a road called Birdcage Walk when we suddenly stumbled upon Westminster Abbey and the Thames. Directly across Westminster Bridge sat the London Eye and I looked over at Edward, his eyes glimmering with excitement.

"You want to go on the Ferris Wheel right?" I asked curiously as he nodded his head like a little boy excited about some new toys for his sandbox. I couldn't refuse him. Edward paid for our tickets, and when I looked up at clock on the ticket booth wall, I realized it was already six o'clock. The sun was just starting to go down and I was glad I had my camera because the views from the top were surely going to be spectacular. Edward seemed a bit disappointed when he realized we were not going to be enjoying the ride alone. There was a family of four, with two young kids, who were from Italy. There was also an older couple from Germany and a young couple who looked like they were on a date.

Edward wrapped his arms around my waist as I stood right against the edge, desperate for a few good pictures and the German couple offered to take our photo, which we greatly appreciated. The ride didn't take nearly as long as Edward had hoped, but I didn't mind. It was relaxing and it took my mind off of other things. Once the ride was over, Edward and I ended up at a pub called 'The Archduke' which was fairly close to Waterloo Bridge. The food was good, but Edward seemed to be drinking more than was absolutely necessary. Before dinner had even arrived, Edward had already finished off three Guinness's.

"Can we head back to the hotel after dinner?" I asked curiously as he nervously moved his French fries along his plate.

"Sure sweetie, do you want to walk or take the subway?"

"Let's cab it. My treat. I would rather get back there sooner rather than later," I said slowly. I wasn't desperate to get back really; I just hoped time would go a bit slower if we were doing nothing at all. When we finally got back to our hotel almost an hour later, Edward was more drunk than I had previously thought. I only had two drinks, but Edward had five. Wonderful way to start our last night together, I told myself as he launched himself onto our bed and patted it heavily, clearly illustrating that he wanted me to join him. I grabbed a bottle of water from the mini-bar, not caring that it probably cost about eight bucks, and handed it to Edward. I wanted him sober and sane again.

"I'm sorry," he slurred as he threw his head back into the pillows and laid his arm over his eyes.

"I know your upset about this Edward, I am too, but I just wanted to enjoy our last night together. Who knows when we'll see each other again," I said with a heavy sigh. Of course my mind was wondering if he would _ever_ want to see me again after I told him about Columbia. Then I let my mind wander about all the different possibilities of what could happen when we are apart. "You could find some stunning girl who loves music as much as you and laughs at your dumb jokes and loves you more than I do when you settle in New York. Who knows what will happen when we're apart."

Edward sat up quickly from the bed, holding his hand against it to soothe the head rush he most likely just got from bolting upright the way he had. "That won't be happening. I don't even notice other girls anymore Bella, so don't worry about me leaving you or cheating on you, that won't ever happen." He gripped my hands in his now and he looked so sincere, I immediately felt bad for even mentioning it at all.

"I was just being factious; I know you don't want anyone else."

"Do you want someone else?" I laughed heavily as the words spilled from his drunken lips.

"No. I want you," I said as I pushed him back onto the bed and crawled onto his lap. "Only you."

**EPOV**

I should never have put that first glass of Guinness to my lips. I should never have put that second glass there either. Hell, I should never drank at all in the first place, but for a few minutes, it actually helped me forget that Bella and I only had a few more hours together.

So here I sat, drunk as hell, with my sexy fucking girlfriend straddling my lap practically begging me to take her and the first thing that came out of my mouth was "This is probably gonna suck. I'm wasted."

"Thanks for the romance Edward. Perhaps you should drink some of the water I gave you. We can wake up early and try again," she suggested as she rolled off of me, rubbing my hardness with her thigh as she moved.

"NO," I screamed out in disappointment. "I want you, so fucking badly, I just meant with my current state I might not last long."

"So what? Then we do it again and again and again until you last as long as possible," she said with a sexy smile as she reached over to undo the buttons on my jeans. "Maybe this will knock some sense into you," whispered Bella as I felt her tug my pants and boxers down, suddenly exposing my hard cock to her. I felt instant regret. Regret that she was about to go down on me and I was too drunk to fully appreciate it, although I would do my best to try to enjoy it.

As soon as my pants were on the floor, I immediately felt Bella's hand wrap around my shaft, stroking it gently at first and then a little more swiftly. My eyes rolled back into my head as I felt her tongue licking all over me, her hands now cupping my balls. I groaned in pleasure and it made Bella more eager and I suddenly felt her lips wrapped around me, pushing me into her mouth.

"Fuck Bella," I moaned out loudly as I balled my hand into a fist and started pounding it on the bed. Bella was fantastic at giving head, and I was certainly going to miss this when we parted for however long it ended up being. I shook the thought from my head and focused on not coming immediately, which was hard when she started to graze her teeth gently along the underside of my cock.

"Ugh," I called out moments later as she continued her assault on me. I felt one of her hands moving up my stomach, teasing me gently, and then I felt the back of her throat and I came undone. I didn't even have a chance to warn her when I came in her mouth, but thank god she took it like a trooper. Yet another reason why I loved her so much. As I tried to calm my breathing, I reached over and grabbed the bottle of water Bella had brought me earlier, taking a big swig before handing it to her.

"Now next time, you'll last longer," she replied with a chuckle as I looked down at her lovingly.

"Come here," I said as I patted the bed beside me again. I wanted her next to me, so that I could wrap my arms around her and tell her how much I loved her. Bella was still fully dressed, but I didn't care. When she finally lay down beside me, I pulled her close to me and snaked my arms around her waist.

"We're going to be alright, right?" she asked nervously as I began to run my fingers along her arms, which caused goose bumps to rise on her skin.

"I give you goose bumps, that is so fucking cute," I said with a sigh. Just one more thing I would miss about her. "Yeah, we're gonna be alright." Bella nodded her head and her breathing slowed as she fell asleep in my arms. When she started to snore lightly, I pulled my arm from beneath her and headed into the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and took several big drinks of water in an effort to sober myself up a bit more. When I was done, I pulled off my t-shirt and tossed on my boxers, opting to sit on one of the small chairs beside the bed and just watch her sleep.

I hadn't noticed it before but Bella tended to talk in her sleep, which was pretty endearing. Most of the time I couldn't understand what was being said though. I caught random words like 'blubber', 'Wilson Hall' and 'Columns'. She was definitely a little odd, but she was mine and I loved her and all her idiosyncrasies.

I spent the next two hours simply watching her sleep, her chest rising and falling with each breath. I felt like I was studying each one of her movements, memorizing everything so there was no chance I could forget her. At least I would have the pictures to placate me when she sent them. She would never forget something that important to me, I was confident of this fact. When I started to grow tired, I climbed onto the bed beside Bella and scooped her up into my arms again, running my hand down the side of her cheek.

"Why are you awake?" she asked me slowly as she rolled towards me and let out a yawn.

"I didn't sleep," I admitted to her as her beautiful face grew into a frown. "Sorry."

"I'm sorry I fell asleep, we should have been together." I leaned forward and kissed her lips sweetly, pulling her bottom lip into my mouth to suck on it. I pulled back quickly, almost forgetting something I had really wanted to do today. I jumped from the bed and lost my balance slightly, damned alcohol, before I steadied myself with the edge of the bed.

"What are you doing?" asked Bella as she watched me stalk across the room to my backpack and start rummaging through it.

"I'm looking for something," I said with a slight slur as I finally found the box. I walked back to the bed with my hands around my back and sat down, cross legged in front of her. "I have something for you, but if you want it, you have to play nice." Bella nodded her head slowly and I pulled the long thin box out from behind my back.

"What did you do now?" she asked as a nervous frown crossed her face. I lifted the lid off the box and watched as her eyes widened and she ran her fingers along the links. There was one single charm, a small sterling silver Eiffel Tower, hanging from the center of the bracelet.

"Don't go all crazy and assume I spent thousands, because I didn't," I said as I tried to reassure her. "But, I am on a mission to find other charms that represent our trip, like a sailboat or something like that."

"Can you put it on?" asked Bella with a smile as I lifted it from the box and gripped her wrist lightly, wrapping the links around her and clasping the two ends together. I had to admit, it looked really cute on her wrist, and I felt even better because she had something on her that would always remind her of me.

I slid my hand up her arm and then down her body, grasping the hem of her shirt and pulling it slowly over her head. We had very little time left together but I was definitely going to spend the rest of the night making love to her, no matter how long it took. She was going to remember how much I loved her, and never doubt me. I felt her small hands reach behind my head and bury themselves in my hair as she pulled me closer to her for a much firmer and deeper kiss.

I repositioned myself so that I was kneeling between her legs and reached up to run my fingers along the waistband of her shorts. I tugged them off slowly as I trailed kisses down from her thigh to her toes. Bella was left before me in just her bra and panties, and she looked so gorgeous that I actually didn't want to remove them. My fingers raced up her skin from her ankle past her thigh and stomach, finally settling on the crook of her neck. I leaned down and started to cover her breasts and collarbone with small gentle kisses as I pulled the straps of her bra down and off her shoulders. Bella sat up slowly and unclasped her bra, letting her breasts fall free and I wanted to gasp at the sight of them, even though I had spent the past several weeks adoring them, she still looked as beautiful as ever. When Bella lay back down, I sat back on my knees and stared at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked curiously as stretched her hand out to grab mine.

"Nothing's wrong Bella. Everything is perfect just the way it is," I said with a sigh as I grabbed her thighs in my hands and spread her legs open for me. I started worshipping her by running my finger up and down her white lace covered mound, and Bella released a slight moan from the sensation of my hands on her. I grasped the edge of her panties and slowly slid them from her eager body, returning my finger to her hot center, where it ran the length of her folds. She was soaking wet for me, and I basked in the fact that she was having this reaction to me. As I bent my head forward, my lips felt like a magnet drawn her to clit, so I spread her folds and started to suck furiously on her nub as I slipped two fingers inside of her.

"Shit," groaned Bella as my fingers slid deftly inside of her and my tongue continued its assault on her clit for the next several minutes. I watched as Bella's hands reached behind her head and she grabbed onto the plush fabric headboard for support. As I curled my fingers within her sex, I heard her scream out as her body tensed around me. I loved hearing her cum and loved looking at her face even more when she did it. I kneeled back and took a moment to compose myself as I looked down upon her.

"You are so fucking beautiful, I am so not worthy of you Bella," I said to her as I moved forward and positioned myself between her legs. "Are you on the pill?" I asked curiously, suddenly feeling very angry with myself for not noticing earlier if she took a little pill every single morning. Bella simply nodded her head. I wanted to be inside of her, with no restrictions and from the look on her face, she wanted the same.

My hands gripped her waist, but not as hard as I usually did. I slid myself into her slowly, reveling in the feeling of nothing between us, she felt a million times better than all the other times we had sex. I kept my eyes trained on Bella the entire time we made love. I wanted to see every emotion that crossed her face as I worshipped her body. The sheer passion I felt between us was all that mattered in that moment as I leaned forward and kissed her passionately, my hands now cradling her face. I didn't want this night to end. I shivered as I felt her fingertips move against my chest slowly. I could feel my cock was ready to explode, and I reached my hand between us and rubbed Bella's clit gently.

"Look at me Bella," I said sweetly as her eyes opened slowly and she stared at me, her eyes burning into my soul. I felt her tense beneath me, knowing full well her release was imminent. I reached my hand up to cup her face again, my thumb sliding up and down on the side of her cheek, "No one else Bella." My words were supposed to come out lovingly, but to me they seemed like a demand. Perhaps that was because the beer was still coursing its way through my system, I wasn't sure.

Bella screamed out my name as her entire body tightened and she came for me, which caused me to burst deep inside of her. "No one else Edward. No one else ever."


	31. London to New York

**A/N: I'm gonna have small notes here, since its four chapters in one night. Who's excited for some dramarama? There is a playlist on my profile with some songs that fit this chapter… check it out. There will also be playlists for the next two chappies as well.**

**I don't own twilight but I do have a young neighbor who looks just like Taylor Lautner. My teenage stepdaughter drools at the sight of him.**

**BPOV**

The flight from London to New York was unbearable. Edward was trying to be supportive and comforting, but I just cried on his shoulders for most of the flight and got continual stares from the other passengers and flight staff. I was dying inside and it wasn't because of our imminent separation, it was because of my guilt. I had three hours left with Edward and I still hadn't told him that I would be in New York City in two weeks. I had no idea how he would take the news, specifically because it meant I had been lying to him since we met. I didn't think it would be good though. Even as recently as a few days ago in Paris when we agreed to do the long distance thing and I had a prime opportunity to tell him, I chickened out. To make it worse, every time I even broached the topic with him, he said we weren't allowed to discuss it at all. My life was balancing precariously on the edge of a sword and I had no idea how to make everything right.

"Bella, stop crying. I can fly out to see you in Chicago in a month and maybe I can convince my parents to let me go to Forks for Thanksgiving with you. It's not like they'll care where I am," he said supportively as he wiped some tears from my eyes and kissed my cheek lovingly.

"We need to talk Edward," I choked out through my tears, but Edward kissed my lips to silence me.

"We agreed a few weeks ago in Venice not to talk about the separation anymore. We're just going to enjoy the last few hours and then you'll be in Chicago and I'll be in New York. It will be hard, but worth it because I love you," he whispered to me as his fingers ran reverently though my hair, as though it was the last time he would ever touch it. I spent the rest of the trip memorizing every little detail about him, in case he stopped loving me when I finally told him the truth. I tried with all my might to stay awake, but as Edward stroked my hair and hummed to me, I found myself leaning against his shoulders and passing out. It wasn't until we were descending into JFK that I finally woke up.

"Why did you let me sleep?" I snapped angrily. "I just lost over two hours with you."

"You were tired Bella, plus I think most of the passengers preferred your snoring to your crying," he said with a small smile. As I looked at him, I wondered how he would take it if I just showed up at his door and told him I had transferred to Columbia to be with him. It probably still wouldn't be good. He would probably be pissed at me for not discussing it with him in the first place. It was only ten minutes later when we were walking off the plane and down the jet way. I was running out of time because we both had connecting flights to get to. When we were finally free of all the other travelers, I saw down on a chair by the gate to catch my breath and gather my courage. "Bella, come on. We have to go," said Edward as he grabbed my hand and tried to pull me forward.

"Sit down," I said forcefully to him. I knew we each had at least an hour till we could even board our connecting flights and that would be more than enough time to get through this. "I've been trying to tell you something for ages and you have to let me talk," I spit out angrily. Edward finally relented and sat down beside me, looking very forlorn.

"You don't want to do the long distance thing, do you?" he asked as he put his face in his hands. I reached down to my wrist and ran my fingers along the bracelet Edward had given me earlier this morning, praying it would give me some sort of strength.

"I want to be with you Edward. There is no one else in this world I could ever love as much as I love you. Never doubt that," I said, mustering up all the confidence I could to convince him of my feelings. My heart ached for him; I couldn't believe he thought I didn't want to be with him.

"Then what is wrong?" he asked with concern as he grabbed my hand in his and started to stroke my palm supportively.

"How would you react if you found out I had lied to you since I met you?" I asked, trying to gauge his reaction. He immediately tensed and a scowl crossed his beautiful face. He looked furious and I couldn't blame him.

"That would depend on what the lie was about?" he replied through clenched teeth.

"I'm not going to Northwestern and I'm not moving to Chicago," I admitted through my now falling tears. I looked down at his hands and he had pulled them from mine and they were now clenched tightly on his lap, his knuckles were practically white as his hands gripped into fists.

"Where are you going Bella?" he asked angrily as he raised his voice and a few people turned to look at us.

"Please remember that when I told you where I was going to school, we had just met and I didn't feel extremely comfortable with you. I wasn't in love with you then," I pleaded with him as the tears continued to stream down my face. Edward didn't look so sympathetic anymore.

"Where are you going Bella?" he repeated. This time it was louder and angrier. In any other circumstance, I probably would have been scared by this reaction, but this was Edward, My Edward. He would never do anything to hurt me physically. My heart however, I didn't think would ever recover if this went as badly as I thought it would.

"Columbia," I said as I tried to reach out for his hand but he pulled away quickly and stood up in front of me.

"What the fuck Bella? I've been struggling to find ways to keep us together and now you tell me you're going to be a few fucking miles away from me."

"I'm sorry," I choked out pathetically, not that I thought apologizing would do much at this point.

"Did you not want to be with me in New York? Is that it Bella? I was even considering transferring to Northwestern to be with you. I was going to sacrifice my dreams to be with you and you couldn't be bothered to tell me you'd be in New York and we could be together?" He yelled furiously and a vein popped out on his forehead that I had never noticed before.

"You wanted to transfer to Northwestern?" I asked incredulously as I tried to wipe the tears from my eyes.

"Yeah, I had been thinking about it. I didn't want to be away from you. I loved you that much Bella," he said as he started to walk around our arrival gate, where I was still seated. "Was this some sort of game to you? Head to Europe, make some stupid rich kid fall in love with you and have him pay for everything? I feel like such a fucking fool. I cared for you. I protected you and I loved you," he said as I interrupted him.

"You know this was never about money or anything like that. I can't believe you would think that Edward. I hated when you paid for things, it made me feel like shit. Hold on, you said loved… as in past tense? You don't love me anymore?" I asked as I shook in my chair from my tears and his words. Edward was pacing in front of me, fuming in rage and disgust.

"Yes Bella… past tense. Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he begged of me.

"I didn't want us to end. I had nightmares that no matter when or how I told you, this would be the outcome. You'd stop loving me. You'd stop wanting me and I didn't want that. I don't want to be without you," I said as I stood from the chair and cupped his face in my hands, trying to pull him in for a kiss. Edward pulled away and pushed my hands away from his cheeks.

"If you didn't want this to be the end of us, you should have told me sooner. We said that we loved each other weeks ago… weeks ago Bella," he yelled out again. "I was always completely honest with you and you know how conflicted I have been about being apart from you. Right now, there is nothing I want more than to be away from you." Edward turned on his heel and walked away from me as I fell to the floor, practically screaming for him to come back to me. He didn't even turn around to look at me. I had fucked up beyond belief and every single thing I wanted from the moment I fell in love with him was gone. Edward was gone.

The words from one of my favorite songs began to run through my head and my body shuddered as I lay on the floor crying.

_Are you there?  
Are you watching me?  
As I lie here on this floor  
They say you feel what I do  
They say you're here every moment  
Will you stay?  
Stay 'till the darkness leaves  
Stay here with me  
I know you're busy, I know I'm just one  
But you might be the only one who sees me  
The only one to save me_

Why is it so hard?  
Why can't you just take me?  
I don't have much to go  
Before I fade completely

Can you feel how cold I am?  
Do you cry as I do?  
Are you lonely up there all by yourself?  
Like I have felt all my life  
The only one to save mine

**EPOV**

I walked to the nearest bathroom and sat down in one of the stalls, pulling the toilet seat closed before I sat down. I put my head in my hands and started to let the tears fall from my eyes. I had never cried over a girl before, but Bella had completely crushed my heart, my spirit and everything else about me. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone, which I had gotten out of my bag before I handed it over to baggage check in London. As soon as I composed myself, I called Jasper.

"Dude, where are you?" he asked with a little too much enthusiasm.

"I'm in a stall of a men's bathroom at JFK. I need you to pick me up Logan in about two hours. I'm on United Flight 921. I think I am supposed to arrive at like 8 or something," I said slowly. I was still furious, but I really didn't want to talk about it right now, especially since I was in the bathroom at the airport. "Bring as much booze as you can find. I need some weed too, so get it from Emmett, whatever you can score, I need it right now."

"What happened man? You sound seriously disturbed." Jasper had always been pretty perceptive about virtually everything, so it didn't surprise me that he could sense my unhappiness.

"I just found out Bella has been lying to me since the day we met," I replied with a sigh. "I don't want to talk about it. Just bring me whatever the fuck you can score please. I need to stop thinking about her, and all the booze and weed in Boston should be a good start."

"Okay man, I'll be there. I won't bring Alice, Emmett or anyone else okay?" he said and I agreed quietly. When we finished talking, I shoved my phone back in my pocket and stepped out of the stall, washing my hands and putting cold water on my face to help me calm down. It didn't work. I practically ran to my gate and paced nervously until we were allowed to board. I took my first class seat and plugged my iPod in, choosing to listen to the most depressing music I could find on my playlists before I fell asleep, dreaming of Bella. Except now instead of the usual sex dreams, they were nightmares involving her with other guys, and her at Columbia. I would see her on the streets of New York and she acted like she didn't know me. I woke up panting, sweating and feeling seriously ill. I was so relieved to see Jasper waiting for me at baggage claim that I almost gave him a hug. "You look like shit man."

"Thanks Jazz, greatly appreciated. Keep your eye out for my backpack, I'm desperate to get out of here. I hate JFK," I said with a sigh as he shot me a thumbs up and stared intently at me.

"She fucked you up pretty bad huh?"

"Yeah, you could say that. Are there any parties coming up, I think I need to find myself some female companionship of the non-Bella kind," I said with a groan. I really didn't want to hook up with some random girl, but it would be a step in the right direction to forget about Bella.

"You know you don't mean that. Sure, there's parties coming up, but I don't think that you going to any of them is a good idea," sighed Jasper in frustration. I looked over at him and he was frowning at me already. "I don't want you to do something you are going to regret. Why don't you tell me what happened?" I noticed my bag coming down the conveyor belt and grabbed it quickly, letting Jasper lead me out towards his car.

"So, did you and Emmett find us a place in New York or not?" I asked irately as I changed the topic. I didn't want to discuss Bella yet, so I thought this would be the safest discussion.

"Yeah, we found a decent three bedroom in the village. Your parents ended up buying it as an investment, so that's a good thing. We can decorate it in standard bachelor pad chic," laughed Jasper as I imagined various posters of naked girls adorning the walls. Not that I would particularly care, because none of them were Bella.

"Cool. I'm sure it's great," I said although I wasn't really interested. Jasper tossed my bag into the trunk of his car and we drove silently for the next half hour, heading towards my house. When we got there, I threw my bag into my bedroom and headed out to the backyard with the bottle Patron that Jasper had acquired for me. He was following close behind me and was looking at me with concern. I sat down under the gazebo in the backyard and whipped open the bottle, taking a big drink and coughing heavily after I had swallowed.

"Take it easy there champ," said Jasper as he glared me. I wanted to talk to him, but I didn't want to remember Bella, so I was stuck in a shitty situation. "What did she do?"

"She lied to me for the past two months." I said as I took another swig of tequila and flinched slightly. "Bella's going to Columbia in the fall."

"She's doing what?" he yelled incredulously as we both glanced back towards the house, hoping no one heard us, particularly Alice.

"I asked her when we first met where she was going in the fall and she told me Northwestern. She never once tried to correct herself or tell me that she had lied to me about it. I even considered leaving NYU to go to Northwestern to be with her, because I loved her that much." I groaned out a heavy sigh and took another drink. "She's going to Columbia and will literally be across town from me. Hell, Emmett and Rose are going to Columbia, I might even run into her with my luck."

"So, then make up with her?" suggested Jasper coolly.

"Yeah, it's not that easy. We talked for weeks about having a long distance relationship, and she never said anything. We were making plans for me to visit her in Chicago and then again in Forks for the holidays. I just don't get it. If I never see her again, it will be too soon," I said with a heavy heart. Of course I didn't mean it. Right now, I'd give my left arm to see her again even though I am pissed at her. I already missed her like crazy and it had only been a few hours.

"Well, don't drink everything in sight or fuck the first skank who bats her eyelashes at you to get her out of your mind, it won't help."

"Oh well what do you suggest Dr. Jasper?" I asked with a nervous laugh.

"I suggest you give it some time and space and then try to talk to her. If you love her as much as you claimed you did on your trip, you should try to make it work. I would if this happened to Alice and me," sighed Jasper. I looked over at him and frowned before I took another big sip of tequila. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a joint and handed it to me. "I don't' condone getting fucked up, but I would do it if I was in your shoes. I'm sticking around to make sure you don't do something stupid like drunk dialing Jessica Stanley for a quick fuck." I nodded my head and offered him a quick smirk. He was right; I didn't need to be calling Jessica, or anyone else for that matter.

**BPOV**

After a few minutes of sitting on the floor of the terminal crying profusely, I picked myself up from the floor and headed to the nearest bathroom to clean up. I had been dreading this for weeks, and every single one of my nightmares came true, made worse because they were completely real. I couldn't handle it; I also couldn't handle seeing my parents right now. I composed myself to look somewhat decent and headed towards my gate for the flight to Seattle. As soon as I found a payphone, I called Angela to beg to her pick me up in Seattle, instead of my parents. She reluctantly agreed and I had to promise her not to bring Ben with her because I needed her support. After she agreed, I called my parents and told them that Angela 'just happened' to be in Seattle and offered to pick me up. I think they were relieved that they wouldn't have to drive all the way into the city to come and get me.

I sat down in my chair at the gate, pulling my knees up to my chest, rocking back and forth slowly as I turned up the music on my iPod. Ironically, the first song that came on was 'Hurt' by Nine Inch Nails. As if my iPod was trying to rub salt in the wounds, the next song was 'Deathly' by Aimee Mann. _Just shoot me now_, I thought to myself as I waited around the gate, desperate to get out of New York City. For once, I actually wished I was actually going to Northwestern. Once the plane was in the air, I tried my best to fall asleep, but it never happened. Instead, I sat there replaying every second of our trip in my mind, including the break-up. It was definitely a break up, even though I was holding out for an angry confrontation and some serious make up sex in a bathroom stall, I ended up with the break up I had been dreading.

When we landed, I headed over to baggage claim and immediately found my bag since it was the first one off the conveyor. As I threw it over my shoulder, I noticed Angela standing off to the side, looking rather sad. "How's it going kiddo?" she asked as I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tightly. "That good huh?" Tears started to stream from my eyes and she instantly knew what was going on. "You told Edward and he didn't take it well I'm guessing?"

"Didn't take it well is probably an understatement," I replied as I pulled away from her and let her lead me towards her parents car. "He wouldn't let me tell him at all, and I finally ended up forcing him to listen to me when we got off the plane in New York. He absolutely flipped out and said he never wanted to see me again. He even said he didn't love me anymore," I said as my light tears turned into full on sobs. Angela wrapped her arm around me supportively and helped me throw my bag in the car.

"So, this is why I'm here and not Charlie and Renee huh? You didn't want to hear 'I told you so'?" I nodded in agreement and buried my head in my hands. "Do you think there's any chance he'll reconsider?"

"Not likely. He was pretty pissed off about everything, and I don't blame him. I mean, I was conflicted since the moment I realized I liked him, but I couldn't find the courage or confidence to tell him about college. I could tell him I loved him, I could fuck him on a train and give him a blowjob on a boat, but I couldn't say 'Hey baby, I'm gonna live on the other side of town from you.' How fucking pathetic am I?" Angela didn't say anything, for fear of angering me with her answer, and we drove in silence back towards Forks.

When we finally pulled up in front of my parent's house, I gave her a quick hug and thanked her for being so supportive. My parents were elated to see me, and thankfully, they completely avoided the topic of Edward altogether. "It's so good to see you Bella. You look so tan, which is an amazing feat for anyone in the Swan family" said Charlie as he hugged me gently. He stared at my face for a moment and could clearly sense something was wrong, but didn't say anything.

"Bella, you look tired sweetie. How about you go get some rest and you can tell us all about the trip later?" suggested Renee with a forced smile. She knew what was going on too but was choosing to delay discussing it. I was dreading my future conversation with her. Charlie grabbed my bag and brought it upstairs for me and when he left I practically collapsed on my bed the moment I stepped into my room. I pulled the blankets up around me tightly, without removing any clothes and started to cry again. It was only a few minutes later when I heard a light knocking on the door. It was my dad.

"Hey Bella, are you okay?" he asked gently as he sat down on my bed and rubbed my back, just like he would do when I was younger. I immediately rose from the bed and buried my head in his shoulder, crying even more than ever. "What did Edward do?"

"He didn't do anything. I screwed up Dad. Majorly," I said through my tears. He reached up and tried to wipe both my tears and my hair from my face, without much luck. "I never told him I was going to be in New York City with him. I lied when we met because I didn't know him very well, and then when I fell in love with him, I never told him. Not until we got off the plane in New York." Charlie looked down at me with a frown, clearly disappointed that I had lied to Edward.

"Your mom and I broke up when we were dating, for over five months. She even dated other people, even though I never did because I was so in love with her. I spent all my time trying to win her back, and as you know, it obviously worked. If you love this boy as much as you say you do, don't give up on him." I looked up at Charlie with a small smile, tears still falling down my face.

"Thanks Daddy," I said as I kissed his cheek and he stood from the bed. He lingered at the doorway for moment before he left.

"Bella, if you try and he still can't be bothered to be with you, then he wasn't the right person for you. But you have to try something right?" I nodded my head casually at him and curled back into the sheets of the bed, eager for sleep to take me, so that I could wake up in the morning and plan how to get Edward back.

"Oh, Dad… can I borrow your Van Morrison album. I would really like to listen to 'Into the Mystic' right now."


	32. Forks to New York

**A/N: Here's what happened in Forks and when Bella gets to New York. Enjoy**

**I don't own twilight; I do own a lot of broken crayons, which are scattered around my entire house.**

**Bella POV**

Angela came over two days after I got home to help me start packing some of my stuff for school. I was scheduled to leave nine days later for New York City, and I needed to get something, anything packed before then. I had spent the past forty eight hours basically curled up in a ball on my bed crying and listening to depressing music. My parents came in every so often, but luckily my mother chose to keep her mouth shut regarding everything. Angela was also going to try to help me figure out some ideas to try to win Edward back, although she initially wasn't much help since she had never gone through a break up herself.

As we sorted through my CD's, Angela suggested I make him a mix CD which sounded like a good idea at the time. "You can put on songs which remind you of your time together."

"Wouldn't I basically be rubbing salt in the wounds? I don't want to make things worse," I admitted ruefully as I sorted the discs into two piles; one to bring to New York and one to stay in Forks.

"Don't you think you should have thought about that before you decided not to tell Edward about Columbia? Anything you do will probably be considered 'rubbing salt in the wounds' Bella" said Angela curiously as I glared at her in frustration.

"Thanks for the support Ang."

"Bella, you know I love you and I will do almost anything to help you in your efforts to win Edward back, but you need to admit you were at fault for this situation. Sure, in the last few days he wouldn't even let you talk about it, but you had plenty of chances to tell him before then." I nodded at Angela in acknowledgment, because no matter what anyone says, this is my fault and I'm the only one who can fix it. "What about the pictures?"

"What about them?" I asked in confusion.

"Print them out and send them to him. You can even write little heartfelt messages on the back of them all. Then include a letter telling him how you feel and how to get in touch with you in New York City," she suggested with a big grin. I leaned forward and gave her a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"That's a brilliant idea. Edward talked constantly about me sending him the photos, so it would work great, except for one little hitch… I don't know how to get in touch with him. I don't have his address in Boston or his address in New York," I said with a slightly defeated sigh.

"Bella, there's only one person you can ask… Alice." I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of Alice previously. Then again, her loyalties lie with her big brother, not me, so she might not even help me.

"Ok, let's email her," I said confidently as I grabbed my laptop and quickly opened my email to begin typing.

_Dear Alice,_

_I'm sure I'm the last person you want to hear from right now, but I am writing to ask for your help. I know I screwed things up terribly with Edward, but I want to do anything I can to get him back. I miss him so much Alice, I can't even begin to explain it. Everything is completely my fault, but I can't even consider trying to repair it without a bit of help from you. All I need is his mailing address in New York City. I have something I desperately need to send to him, so I am pleading with you to show a little compassion and help me. Edward means more to me than anything in my life and I will spend the rest of my life trying to fix this, with or without your help._

_Apologetically,_

_Bella_

"That sounds really good Bella. You should have probably appealed to her romantic side, but it works. She should be willing to help you, I think," said Angela with a small smile as I hit the send button and closed down my email. I then logged onto the local Walgreen's website and uploaded all my photos to print. I paid almost $80 for doubles of all the photos, but it would be worth it. I could pick them up tomorrow and start writing all my small notes for Edward.

"What's this?" asked Angela as she grabbed my silver dress that Edward had gotten me in Paris from the closet.

"It's a cocktail dress Ang, what does it look like?" I replied anxiously as I watched her finger the tag on the dress in surprise.

"Badgley Mischka… seriously? This isn't a knock off is it?" she asked as I shook my head signally that it was in fact real. "Holy shit Bella, you didn't tell me Edward was rich."

"Because it's not important Ang. I would love him just as much if he had bought me a shitty dress at the Goodwill. I didn't even know for a while that he was loaded, well his family is loaded." Angela hung the dress back up and looked at me with a bit of surprise in her eyes.

"What else did he get you?" she asked as she placed her hands on her hips. She reminded of my mother for an instant, so I slowly held my arm out to show her the bracelet Edward had given me in London. "Does he have a brother?"

"Yeah, he does. His name is Emmett but he isn't single. Sorry sweetie."

By the time dinner rolled around, I was in a considerably better mood and I had packed two boxes of things to be shipped to me at the dorm, which was a big accomplishment considering how much I hadn't done before today. My downfall was the fact that I spent most of my time with Angela telling her about the trip and gushing about Edward. I explained every little detail about him from the way he smelt, to the way he liked to run his fingers through my hair. I told her how much I missed lying my head on his chest to sleep and that I felt empty without him. I was crying only two minutes into the conversation, but she consoled me and we started to talk about happier topics, like how I felt complete when I heard Edward play the piano for me and how much fun we had in Paris. It felt very surreal now, and I couldn't believe how badly I had screwed everything up. I was relying on Alice, the little sister of my ex boyfriend, to fix everything, and I don't know how I feel about that.

Three days later, I sat perched on my bed with my pen clutched in my teeth as I tried to think of something to write on the back of the picture of Edward and I had taken on the boat in Venice. Right after this photo was taken, we had mutually pleased each other, for lack of a better term, and I was having difficulty figuring out what to write. Nothing felt right, until I remembered what he had said to me once we had finished, and I wrote _I will never do this with anyone else EVER. _He would clearly understand what it meant, even if it was one of the more cryptic notes I had written. As soon as I had written a small note on the back of all the photos, I combined them into a small box with the letter I had written and then checked my email, praying for a response from Alice, and it was there.

I was suddenly very nervous and dialed Angela as quickly as possible to let her know I had finally gotten a response. I didn't want to open it. I was worried she would tell me to stay the fuck out of Edward's life, which was something I knew I couldn't do.

"What does it say?" asked Angela eagerly once I had told her the situation.

"I don't want to open it. What if it's bad?" I asked nervously.

"Bella, just do it. It's like pulling off a band-aid, just open the damn thing and get it over with." I nodded my head at her advice, even though she couldn't see me and opened the email, reading it out loud to Angela.

_Bella,_

_I was shocked to see an email from you, and even though Edward told me never to email you, I had to respond because I can see you are hurting without him. He's pretty fucked up honestly and if it wasn't for Jasper, Emmett and I keeping such a close eye on him, he would have done some pretty regrettable stuff by now. He's fairly safe right now though. I think he's passed out on his bed or something like that._

_Anyways, I know you have a good heart, you were just confused by your feelings for him, and this is why I am agreeing to help you. His address in New York is 5487 Bleeker, Apt 301, New York City, 14857. He's moving in this Saturday. I can't give you a phone number because he doesn't have one yet, but I will send it when they get it. I hope you can say or do something to fix this because I have no idea if Jasper and Emmett will be able to handle him when he gets to New York._

_Please don't hurt him again. I don't think anyone in the Cullen family could take it if this happened again._

_Alice_

"Jesus Angela, she said he was fucked up and he would have done some regrettable stuff. I had no idea I hurt him so badly," I said as I burst out into tears. I hadn't cried for almost three days, and everything was coming back to me like I was sitting at JFK and he had just left me.

"Bella, please calm down," she said sweetly, trying to get me to calm my crying. "She gave you the address that is the most important thing. Did you finish everything?"

"Yeah, I got it done just before I checked my email," I said as I wiped the tears from my eyes and grabbed the box and pen that rested on my bed beside me. I wrote the address down and smiled sadly, hoping that this would be enough to at least convince him to contact me. It was a good start, regardless of what happened next. After Angela and I got off the phone, I sent Alice a quick email to thank her and put the box on my desk. I would be mailing it first thing in the morning.

It was only nine days later when I sat at the gate at Sea-Tac airport listening to one of the depressing playlists I had made when I first spilt with Edward. They were all I listened to these days, some days I even found myself searching on line for songs which were even more depressing than what I had. My personal favorites were 'Good Enough' by Sarah McLachlan and 'I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You' by Colin Hay. Damned Scrubs for reminding me of that song a few days ago. My parents and I had a tense goodbye when we got to the airport. Charlie hugged me and gave me a kiss, while Renee looked at me in disappointment for not calling Jacob. I had no regrets about that situation. I rested my head against the plastic chair and waited for my flight. I wanted out of Forks, but I was nervous about what waited for me in New York.

Edward hadn't responded to the package I sent him with the photos in it, even though I had included my contact information in New York and Forks. I slept with my cell phone every night, desperate for any form of communication from him, even a text that said he still loved me. But there was nothing. When I touched down in New York, a feeling of déjà vu washed over me. The last time I was here was when I finally told Edward about Columbia and he dumped me, leaving me on the floor by the gate crying my eyes out. I was beyond that now. I had fucked up and I was going to use all my energy to get him back. I needed him back.

I took a cab from the airport to my dorm and struggled to carry my bags up the stairs, but was helped by a fairly muscular curly haired man who looked at least two years older than me. "Thanks," I said sweetly as we walked up the stairs together and stopped at my door. I pulled out the key I was given downstairs when I registered, and thought he would leave once he put my bags on the floor, but he didn't.

"It's no problem, I was actually coming to this room anyways," he said with a grin as I unlocked the door and led us inside. The room was a decent size, so I couldn't complain. We each had our own bedroom, but shared a bathroom, which would be difficult at best if we had classes around the same time, but I tried not to worry about it. Perhaps she was really low maintenance. With my luck, I got one of the hippie girls who never shaved their pits as a roommate.

"So, I'm guessing you're looking for Rosalie?" I said as we left my bags on my bed and walked into the common area. The guy walked around the room for a moment, checking out all the specifics just like I was doing. There were two small couches, a TV and a coffee table in the living room. The TV was pretty extravagant, so I guessed Rosalie had brought it with her from wherever she was from.

"Yeah, I'm her boyfriend," he began to say before we were interrupted by a stunning blonde girl, who I immediately assumed was Rosalie because she began kissing Emmett as though there was no one else in the room. She had long blonde hair and an hourglass figure. Emmett clearly was a lucky guy for having landed her. I cleared my throat and she looked at me with a big grin.

"Hi, I'm Rosalie. You must be Isabella," she said with a smile as she extended her hand for me to take it. I shook it gently and was amazed by how smooth her skin was. So much for my dream of a low maintenance roommate.

"Yeah, but I prefer Bella." I said casually as her eyes lit up in confusion.

"Bella Swan right? You're from Washington State?" she asked again and I nodded my head as I raised my eye brow curiously. "This is my boyfriend, Emmett Cullen. I think you might have someone in common." _Fuck me._

"I seriously think the dormitory gods have just shit on me. No offence Rosalie, I'm sure you are a great girl, but I think I will apply for a change of rooms in the morning, if you don't mind," I snapped in frustration. Could this get any worse? I'm rooming with the girlfriend of Edward's brother, it is officially hell.

"Don't worry about it Bella. Edward doesn't know. I didn't put two and two together until right now. He won't be coming around here, so it's fine. You don't need to move," she said sweetly as I smiled at her apologetically.

"Sorry for the reaction, I'm just not handling things well. Even hearing his name right now is enough to drive me to drink."

"If it helps, you're a lot prettier than your photos," said Emmett quickly before he covered his mouth with his hand, clearly having said something he shouldn't have.

"You saw the photos?" I asked incredulously. I at least I could take comfort in the fact that he received them. "Did he throw them out? Burn them in effigy?"

"Hardly. I am not going to say what he did with them, but I will say there are definitely unresolved feelings on his end, and I hope you guys can fix this, because I am tired of taking care of his drunken ass every night." I actually leaned forward and gave Emmett a hug, which caught him off guard.

"Thanks for taking care of him," I said sweetly as I wandered into my bedroom, with a little smile on my face. Edward had the photos, and he hadn't ruined them. He missed me. I needed to figure out the next step in my game plan, but I had no idea where to start. Although, I do have his address, so I could just get up the nerve and go see him.


	33. Boston to New York

**A/N: Okay, so this is the last chapter of the four I am posting tonight. I will be posting another one soon, probably tomorrow.**

**I don't own twilight, but I do have an unhealthy addiction to both 'Wide Awake' and 'The Office' fan fics.**

**Edward POV**

I honestly had no recollection of the first few days back in Boston. I spent most of them high or drunk, often times both. I also never had a moment of privacy though. If it wasn't Jasper hanging all over me, it was Emmett or Alice. I honestly think they were on suicide watch or some shit, though I knew it would never get that far. I missed Bella with every fiber of my being, but I was not suicidal. I reached over to my iPod and turned on 'Are you Sure?' by Willie Nelson, letting his voice fill my room.

_Oh, look around you_

_Look down the bar from you_

_The lonely faces that you see_

_Are you sure that this is where you want to be_

_These are your friends_

_But are they real friends_

_Do they love you the same as me_

_Are you sure that this is where you want to be_

_Of course it wasn't where I wanted to be Willie_, I thought to myself. I wanted to be wrapped up in Bella's arms, her naked body pressed against mine, but that wasn't going to happen any time soon. Next to alcohol and random drugs, depressing music was what was getting me through the days in Boston. I hadn't seen my parents once since I arrived back, but I didn't care.

Tonight I had dragged Jasper to a party that I was invited to by Mike Newton. I couldn't stand the guy, but I needed to get out and hopefully get laid. Preferably by some blonde chick who looked the complete opposite of Bella. Of course, Jasper cock blocked me at every single change he got, claiming I would regret everything I did if I happened to see Bella in New York. Of course seeing her again was the last thing I wanted to do. Her face already filled every single one of my dreams and all my waking thoughts. It was getting pretty fucking ridiculous, so I stumbled through the party and actually cracked a slight smile when I heard Jessica Stanley's voice behind me.

"Hi Edward, Welcome back," she said sweetly as she sauntered over beside me and looked up at me with her empty blue eyes. She was dressed like a complete slut, and I laughed because she was clearly trying too hard, where as Bella never even had to try. "Alice told me you finally got a girlfriend. How's that going?"

"Well Alice was wrong. There is no girl," I remarked casually as I reached over and ran my hand through the ends of her chemically altered bleach blonde hair. It felt so dry, nothing even remotely close to Bella's hair, which was always soft and smelled like almonds.

"Oh, well that's a good thing then," sighed Jessica as she moved her body closer to mine and took a sip of her drink in what I could only assume was supposed to be a sexy manner. "Do you want to go somewhere private and umm… talk?" she asked as she ran her finger down my chest and tugged lightly at my belt. I nodded my head in agreement, but I didn't move. Even when she grabbed my arm and tried to pull me from the room with her, I never budged. Instead, I left my drink on the bar and headed outside to the backyard, where I located Jasper.

"Let's go," I said in anger as he looked up at me in concern. "Let's fucking go," I yelled again and Jasper was up from his chair quickly, waving goodbye to a few of his friends from the basketball team. When I finally got home from the party, I was pissed. I locked Jasper out of my room and lay down on my bed, doing my best to calm down and think of anything but her. The music flowed effortlessly into the next song and I laughed out loud. Even the iPod gods were mad at me, I thought as 'Something I Can Never Have' by Nine Inch Nails came on.

_I still recall the taste of your tears  
Echoing your voice just like the ringing in my ears  
My favorite dreams of you still wash ashore  
Scraping through my head 'till I don't want to sleep Anymore_

Damned you Trent Reznor for reading my fucking mind at this very moment. I wanted to hear her voice. I wanted to talk to her and tell her I was sorry for not letting her tell me, even though I wasn't. I felt like I needed to say something to her, anything to her, to bring her back into my life. The more I thought about her, the more I resented the fact that she wouldn't leave my mind. It wasn't her fault that all my thoughts dealt with her; it was my fault for falling so madly in love with a girl that was clearly more unattainable then I had thought.

A few days later, I had decided to stop drinking so much, because it was clearly affecting my friends and I need to still pack all my shit for New York. I was halfway through my second box when Alice bounced into my room, her face a lit in a big smile.

"What the fuck? Did you find a diamond ring in your Cheerios this morning?" I asked sarcastically as she sat herself down on my bed and looked at me happily.

"Bella emailed me," she said quietly and my head immediately snapped back up to her face and I grew tense.

"Stay out of it Alice. Tell Bella to stay out of my life, and that includes leaving you alone." I was furious now. Why the hell did she feel the need to contact Alice? I hadn't gone and contacted Angela; in fact I had tried to ignore her existence ever since I left her at JFK.

"You are crushed Edward. I've never seen you like this, and if I think I can find a way to get you guys back together, you can bet I will try," she said confidently as she threw me a small book, which I tossed into the open box in front of me. "You miss her, admit it."

"Fine Alice, I miss her. I fucking hate being apart from her. I feel like I am drowning and there is nothing I can do to make it better. Are you happy?" I yelled as she stood from the bed and headed for the doorway.

"I'll be happy when you are happy," she replied calmly.

"You know what would make me happy; cancel that stupid ass party thing you have planned. I don't want to go."

"Don't worry about it, Jasper already did it. He was worried how you would handle the entire thing. I think he thought you'd snort coke off of Jess's fake tits or something," she called out as she headed down the hallway, back towards her room. I shook my head to turn my thoughts from the conversation we had just had and focused my attention back to the items in front of me that needed to be packed.

Jasper, Emmett and I arrived in New York only three days later. Jasper's dad was driving the U-Haul truck we had rented because the rest of us were considered underage to rent it. I drove up in my Volvo, Emmett was in his Jeep and Jasper was driving the new Audi he bought for himself as a graduation gift. The apartment they had gotten us was actually pretty decent, much better than I expected. The building had a doorman, who I would later discover was named Barry, and our apartment was a decent size. The main living area wasn't huge, but our bedrooms were certainly larger than they would have been had we ended up in the dorms. I patted Jasper on the back and gave him a look that said _'Way to go Champ'_ before we headed back downstairs to get some boxes. We had no living room furniture on the first day, because everything was due to be delivered the next day, but I didn't care. I had a bed, my dresser, my desk, some pillows and my iPod, I was set for the first night.

It was just after dinner when Jasper wandered into my room holding a small box. I was busy unpacking a few items into my dresser and looked up at him, he looked worried.

"What's that?" I asked curiously as he held it out to me nervously.

"It's for you. It's from Bella." I grabbed the box from him and threw it on the bed, trying to ignore it though it stood out like a big pink elephant in the room. "Aren't you going to open it?"

"Not right now. I don't know. I might just throw it out," I said as I opened another box and found every single map from our trip through Europe. Great, another fucking reminder of her, I thought to myself as Jasper turned and left the room, closing the door tight behind him. I searched through the box for my iPod speakers and set them up on my nightstand, plugging my iPod in and setting it to random. I had to laugh when 'Ain't No Sunshine' by Bill Withers poured from the speakers. I looked tentatively at the box and sat down on the bed, making quick work of the tape that held it together.

Once I had it opened, two envelopes fell into my lap and I immediately knew what one of them was. It was all of the pictures of us from our trip. She had done just like I had asked of her and sent them to me. Sometimes I had practically begged her to remember to send them to me. I fingered the envelope carefully, but didn't want to open it. If I opened it, I would probably start crying and I hadn't cried over her in days. I didn't want to start again. I tore open the second envelope and out fell a letter she had written me. I held it up to my nose, and it smelled just like her and my body shivered as I remembered her scent. I missed it more than I realized. I flipped open the paper and read the words she had written in her tiny script.

_Edward,_

_Please don't be mad at Alice for giving me your address, I just had to send you these photos. I hope they remind you of our happier times and of how much I love you. Present tense. I still love you with all my heart and soul, and I hope you can find it within you to forgive me one day. I never meant for any of this to happen, I just couldn't bear the thought of being without you and I ended up making everything worse because of my fears._

_If you decide you ever want to talk to me, I'm going to be at Wilson Hall, 876 Wilson St, New York 87496. I don't have a phone yet, since I only fly in to town on the twenty eighth, but you can email me at lost0913(a) gmail dot com__. I promise this isn't something I created recently; it was actually my handle for like three years before._

_Anyways, I will try to leave the ball in your court, but I hope you will try to contact me when I get to New York. I don't want to give up on us. I miss you so much. You can also try my cell phone at 740-551-5498._

_I love you_

_Bella _

I crumbled up the paper in my hands and immediately regretted it and laid it down on the bed, flattening it out so I could read it again and again. I grabbed the other envelope and finally opened it, searching slowly through every single picture. I pulled the ones of me and Bella together aside into a separate pile and felt my body shake as I looked at them. I felt empty inside as I looked at the photos where Bella and I were practically beaming because we were so in love. I laughed at a photo taken before we had said we loved each other, because in the photo you could clearly see it was true. The camera had known before we had. I went to slip into the pile and I noticed handwriting on the back of the photo. _I knew I loved you on this day in Copenhagen._ I picked up all the photos and noticed small notes on the back of each one. They were all different and reflected the scene on the other side of the picture, but each one was meaningful. I tossed them aside and went looking for Jasper.

"Do you have any thumbtacks man?" I asked him as I headed into his room anxiously. He rummaged through an open box and threw me an entire pack of them. "Thanks," I said with a sigh as I headed back to my room in silence, closing my door tightly behind me. I grabbed my chair and a few of the maps and from the box and set to work.

It was only a few hours later when Emmett practically danced into the apartment calling out for me as loudly as he could. "What?" I yelled at him as I stepped from my room, closing the door tightly behind me. He was excited about something and I had no idea what the hell was going on in his steroid riddled brain. Jasper came out into the living room and threw himself on the couch. He looked extremely happy too, although that probably meant he just off the phone with Alice.

"Guess who I just met?" he said with a grin as he sat down on our new leather love seat.

"Umm… Barbara Walters?" joked Jasper as I laughed at him.

"Frodo Baggins?" I laughed, knowing full well of Emmett's obsession with all things Lord of the Rings.

"Jabba the Hut?" said Jasper as he threw the phone down on the counter. I was right, he had been talking to Alice.

"Barack Obama? Or perhaps the first dog Bo?"

"Jessica Alba?"

"I wish," sighed Emmett as he pretended to wipe drool from his chin. "Guess again."

"Jesus Emmett, just tell us. This could last all fucking night," I said in frustration as I sat down in one of the chairs flanking our dining room table.

"I just had the extreme pleasure of meeting, and getting a hug from… drum roll please…. Isabella Marie Swan." Jasper's head immediately snapped around to me to check out my reaction, but I simply glared at Emmett. I was confused as to how he had seen her, and even more jealous that he had touched her, hugged her, and probably smelt her. "She's hot dude. Like seriously fucking hot."

"Where did you see her? Is she downstairs stalking me?" I asked angrily. I could feel my blood boiling from his comments and it was driving me nuts.

"Hardly. She didn't even know who we were," said Emmett as he turned the TV onto ESPN and watched for a few minutes.

"What do you mean 'she didn't even know who we were'?"

"I mean, she had no idea who I was, until I Rosalie introduced me to her. She's Rosalie's fucking roommate man. How ironic and cruel is that? You don't want to see her again, and I get the pleasure of being around her every time I visit Rosie." Emmett was right; it was very ironic and cruel, but I had more questions than answers now.

"Why did she hug you?" I asked in curiosity. Emmett and Jasper both glared me because they knew I was jealous, but I didn't care. I just shrugged my shoulders and waited for him to talk to me.

"She thanked me for taking care of you after you guys broke up. It was really sweet and she seemed sincerely concerned about you. Jasper, you should go over and get your thanks too. She's a good hugger, nice rack on her and all that shit. I bet she does other stuff even better like… "Emmett never got the chance to finish what he was going to say because my temper got the better of me and I was launching myself off the chair towards him and hitting him about the face and chest in fury. Jasper reached over to pull us apart, which took a bit of time, but he finally did.

"Calm down Edward," sighed Jasper as he forced me back into my chair. "She's not yours anymore."

"Doesn't mean he can say whatever the fuck he wants about her. It's not like my feelings disappeared in the past two weeks," I snapped at both of them

"Then go get her you fucking idiot. If you don't, someone else will. She's too hot and sweet to be off the market for too long. She lied to you, yes that sucks, but she still wants you Edward. How would you feel if you finally got up the balls to talk to her and she wasn't available anymore? If I wasn't with Rose, I would definitely try to hit that." I wanted to jump up and punch him again but Jasper held me back. I headed back to my room in anger, closing the door tightly behind me and laid on my bed. I turned on my iPod and laughed again at the irony. 'Pictures of you' by the Cure. _Just kill me now._

**A/N: Before you all get mad at me for ending it there, don't worry… they will see and talk to each other in the next chapter.**


	34. Nowhere to Somewhere

**A/N: So who loved that there were four chapters posted at once? *raises hand***

**Who wants Edward and Bella to finally talk? *raises hand***

**Who is excited that I posted another chapter so quickly? *raises hand even more enthusiastically***

**Who wants some serious aggressive make up sex? *notices melferd and mmwalker raising their hands* Patience my dear friends.**

**Okay, so this is my longest chapter ever I think. I wanted to split it into two, but as I wrote it out, it just seemed better as one chapter. There are answers to several unanswered questions in this chapter (although some people *cough* bacmel79* made a good guess as to some of it).**

**Thanks again for all the awesome reviews, as per usual. My readers f'in rock! Yes, Bella and Edward are being stubborn and stupid, but that's the joy of writing first time teenage love, at least in my opinion. They have no frame of reference and are both extremely childish at times, but ah well! LOL**

**I know you won't all love every aspect of this chapter, but everything happens for a reason. ****Meghan Bailey, I think I love you. Don't tell my husband though! LOL **

**Oh… FIC REC ALERT… go check out Alphabet Weekends by the-glory-days. Awesome story of fun filled smut and sweet romance. Two updates this week alone, which is great. It's listed as one of my favs on my profile.**

**I don't own twilight but I do own the game 'Elefun' which is not nearly as much fun as it looks.**

***** Happy Mother's Day to all the other moms like me addicted to both Twilight and Fan Fic*****

**BPOV**

"What are you doing here?" I asked in shock as Rosalie stepped into the living room behind me to see who had just knocked on our door. She usually forewarns me if she is expecting Emmett, but this was not the case today. It had only been a week since I moved in, but it had been a long and strenuous week. I had to go through my freshman orientation, pick up my schedule and all my books. I had even had to apply for various part time jobs around campus to help supplement my income. I had a received a few scholarships, but unfortunately Columbia was not a cheap school and most of that money had gone to tuition.

"Your mom gave me your address," said Jacob with a nervous grin. He had changed considerably in the past few years. He had grown at least a foot and now towered over me more than usual and his hair was a lot longer. I couldn't say that I actually cared for it. He looked better when he was a gawky fifteen year old. "Can I come in or do we have to do this in the hallway?" He didn't wait for my response though, instead opting to slide his lean body between myself and the door. "Jacob Black," he said casually as he extended his hand out to my confused roommate.

"Rosalie Hale," she replied politely as she shook his hand nervously and stared at me angrily. "I'll leave you two alone."

"No," I yelled out anxiously. I desperately wanted her to stay mainly because I didn't feel comfortable with Jake anymore and also to cover my ass if Edward and I did reconcile and he found out about this. Although, I did plan to tell him at the first possible opportunity. I looked at Rose, practically begging her with my eyes to stay. She finally nodded her head and sat down on the couch to await the fireworks. "You never answered my question Jacob, what are you doing here? I certainly hope you didn't fly all the way here because I wouldn't see you in Forks."

"I live here Bells. That's what I wanted to tell you back in Forks. I'm taking Architecture at the Parsons School." My mouth dropped open as he spoke, I was in complete shock. I looked over at Rosalie and she still looked confused, then again, I was too. "Remember that house my dad and I were building for my mom out on the rez? Well when she died, it sort of became my dad's mission to get it done for her, and I helped. I fell in love with every aspect of architecture while building that place. Rebecca lives there now with her husband and my dad."

Jacob was absolutely beaming with pride as he told me the story and even Rose managed to crack a smile.

"What does this have to do with me?" I asked curiously, although I was certain I sounded very rude.

"I just hoped that since we were two kids from Forks living in New York City hat we could become friends again. I know I hurt you by just dropping off the face of the earth and all that, but I missed you." I took in all the information that spilled from his lips, but I still felt uncomfortable. "Maybe we can go out for coffee or dinner."

"I don't think that's a good idea Jake," I remarked as Jacob immediately grew sad and embarrassed.

"Why not? Renee said you weren't dating anyone and I just wanted the chance to talk to you about home, school and the three years were didn't talk. We used to talk all the time Bella. Hell, sometimes I was closer with your family than my own." I nodded slowly in agreement with his words. It was true; there were times when we were growing up that he spent more time with us. Hell, he even came on vacation to see Grandma Swan with us one time when we were ten. But we're not ten anymore.

"It doesn't matter if I am dating someone or not Jacob, I don't want to date you." Wow, I sounded harsh, but I didn't particularly care. I didn't want to be with Jacob, I wanted to be with Edward.

"It's just coffee Bella, we don't have to date. Seriously, two cups of caffeine riddled coffee. I know how you are addicted to caffeine." I glanced over at Rosalie, who seemed to be getting just as frustrated as I was at him.

"She doesn't want to go Jacob, so why don't you leave and call ahead next time before you just drop by. Okay? Bye Bye" snarled Rosalie as she stood up and motioned for him to leave. I was starting to like her more and more.

"Listen, I'm not leaving until Bella says she wants me to leave." I couldn't ever recall Jacob being this persistent before, and it was driving me nuts. Then again, when I knew him, he wasn't the kind of kid who would pursue a dream like going to the Parsons school. He had clearly changed, and I wasn't sure it was for the better.

"I want you to leave Jacob," I said confidently as we both walked to the door and I held it open for him to leave.

"I'll call next time Bella. I still want that coffee date," he said assertively as he stepped backwards from the door and walked right into Emmett and Edward who were standing there looking rather shocked. My hand flew up to my mouth immediately and my heart melted as I saw Edward standing beside his older brother, looking almost as gorgeous as I remembered him. His face and arms were still tanned, which made me wonder if the rest of him was too. His eyes were tired and he had bags under them, but I expected that because I looked the same way. Lack of sleep will do that to someone. His hair was all over the place and I just wanted to run my fingers through it and kiss his lips and then yank down his pants and ride him, in front of everyone.

I took a deep breath and remembered where I was. Jacob and Edward gave each other the once over and suddenly all hell broke loose.

"Jacob Black," he said calmly as he extended his hand to Edward who took it eagerly, shaking it way too hard for a casual meeting.

"Edward Cullen," said Edward as his grip on Jacob's hand tightened and I saw Edward's free hand come up and punch Jacob squarely across the jaw. _This was not good._

**EPOV**

I had spent the last week in my room sulking after I found out that Rosalie and Bella had been assigned as roommates. I practically stared daggers at Emmett every time I saw him because he had touched Bella more recently than I had, and I was jealous. In fact, he had actually grown quite fond of her and I noticed he was spending more time at their place than ours. Thankfully, Jasper was as depressed as I was because he was missing Alice, so at least I didn't have to suffer in silence.

"Are you guys coming out with us tonight?" asked Emmett on Friday night. Apparently there was a floor party at Bella's dorm and Emmett was inviting us because he was going with Rosalie. Of course, I knew better because I could tell he just wanted to get me and Bella talking again. I wasn't feeling up to it though.

"Sorry dude, you're on your own tonight," said Jasper as he patted my arm. "Edward and I have a busy night of playing 'Halo' ahead of us." Ah, thank god for my partner in misery. I simply nodded my head as Emmett shrugged his shoulders and walked out, but not before he got one more cheap shot in at my expense.

"Bella's gonna be there Edward. I don't know if I'll be able to stop every guy from coming on to her, but for you buddy, I'll try. If she goes home with someone else, you can't blame me though." _Fucker_, I muttered to myself as Jasper punched me lightly on the shoulder.

"He's just trying to help, really. He doesn't like to see you like this anymore than I do," said Jasper as he handed me the controller to the Xbox 360 and turned on the console.

"You're going through the same shit Jasper. Why isn't he giving you grief? I'm tired of listening to him tell me how Bella made them all dinner, or how she walked out the bathroom in some shorts that practically showed her entire ass to him. You'd think he would know better," I said as I threw my head back against the couch.

"First of all, I'm not going through the same shit. Alice and I are only physically apart. I am still dating her. In fact, she's coming up next weekend, and I am forewarning you know, she said if you hadn't at least talked to Bella by then, she would make your weekend a living hell." Jasper laughed and I groaned because I knew Alice was a devious little pixie who would do whatever she could to help or harm us. "Secondly, I think Emmett is just saying that shit to piss you off and smarten you up. I've only seen pictures of her dude, and he's right, she's smoking, but she won't wait around forever." I nodded in acknowledgment of Jasper's words. We had both screwed up and I wanted to fix it, or at least talk to her. Maybe there was no way to fix it anymore. Bella had made an attempt by sending me the photos, but then she said the ball was in my court, and I hadn't done anything about it. That was six days ago.

"What should I do Dr. Phil?" I asked Jasper as he turned towards me with a serious expression on his face.

"Just tell her how you feel. Tell her how you felt when she admitted the lie to her and try to work through it. You might have to go back to phase one and invite her out for lunch or coffee or something, but you have to try. If you love her at all, you need to try."

"How did you get to be so smart dude?"

"Cosmo. Alice subscribes and it's the only magazine in her bathroom. I've also learned the best sexual positions for multiple orgasms, but that was probably an over share huh?" I nodded my head and laughed at him for a moment, before realizing he was doing this stuff with my little sister.

"No more sex talk between us," I said anxiously as Jasper grinned at me.

"Can I ask one quick question then?" I nodded my head again and suddenly became scared about what he was going to ask. "Was she good? She looks like she would be excellent."

"Fan-fucking-tastic dude, you have no idea, and you will never know."

Emmett rolled his drunken ass into the apartment the next morning around nine, and he was grinning from ear to ear. "Have a nice time did you?" asked Jasper as he poured himself a large glass of orange juice. Emmett walked over to the kitchen and took Jasper's orange juice and drank it all in one gulp. It was disturbing.

"Yeah. The guy who lives across the hall from Bella and Rosalie is a fucking riot. He somehow got a keg into the dorm and we spent most of the night over there with him quoting virtually every single Will Ferrell movie. Did you know Bella loves 'Old School'? She can practically quote it verbatim. Garrett tried to convince her to go streaking across the quad. You guys should have come."

"Who's Garrett?" I asked curiously. I was trying to remain calm but it was hard when Emmett mentioned his name, because I was now furious and jealous.

"He's the gay dude that lives across the hall. He got the keg. Hilarious motherfucker, really." Emmett let out a big sigh and sat down on the couch, resting his feet on the table.

"Feet off the table," yelled Jasper in his best English accent, mocking the Weasley Twins from Harry Potter. Emmett and I both laughed quietly as he slid his feet off the table and began to remove his shoes. He then looked over at me and smiled from ear to ear.

"She misses you dude. Go see her."

"What?" I asked incredulously as he continued to smile at me.

"Every single guy that hit on her last night was brutally rebuffed. It was funny as hell. I won't give you the specifics because you'll probably burn down her dorm and every guy in it. I even overheard her tell one guy at the end of the night that she was taken. She wants you Edward… bad." I sat in silence for a while as I contemplated Emmett's drunken conversations. He had continued for at least another hour talking about things Bella had done and said at the party, and every single word he uttered reminded me of how much I missed her.

Six hours later, Emmett walked from his bedroom looking clean and sober. He looked like a completely different person that just a few hours earlier. "I'm heading to Rose's. We're going out for an early dinner. You guys want to come along?"

"I'm coming," I said as I ran to my room and grabbed my shoes. "I need to talk to Bella." I was a fucking nervous wreck from the moment we left our apartment. As we waited for the elevator to their floor, I thought about turning around and running home but Emmett was gripping my arm so tightly there was no way I was going anywhere.

"You can do this. Just tell her you miss you, you're sorry you didn't listen to her and then take her into her room and fuck the shit out of her."

"Thanks for the advice, but I think I can handle it," I lied.

As we walked down the hallway to their room, a door suddenly opened and there stood Bella, my Bella. She looked as beautiful as ever in a pair of cotton shorts and a blue halter top which I had seen on her many times in Europe. My eyes immediately fell to her wrist where I noticed my bracelet was still sitting and my heart practically soared. At least it did until some tall, tanned guy walked out and backed right into Emmett and me. What the fuck was he doing at Bella's was my first thought. Which of course was followed immediately by my second though, who the hell was he?

"Jacob Black," he said casually as he offered his hand to me. I took it in mine quickly and started to shake hands with him, probably a little too hard. This was the guy who had emailed Bella during our trip and was desperate to see her in Forks when she got home. He had followed her to New York City because she probably had refused to see him, just like she told me she would.

"Edward Cullen," I replied to him curtly as I squeezed his hand tighter in mind and thrust my free hand out to meet his jaw. He was not getting anywhere near my Bella.

**BPOV**

Thank god for Emmett. He intervened immediately and only one punch ended up getting thrown. I could only imagine the trouble that would have went down if Emmett hadn't been there to pull them apart.

"What the hell man?" shrieked Jacob as he reached his hand to his jaw to try to soothe it. "What did I ever do to you?"

"Didn't Bella say she didn't want to see you?" yelled Edward as he stepped back a few paces from Jacob. Edward looked furious; it reminded me of how he looked when he broke up with me at the airport.

"How did you … oh, you must be the ex-boyfriend Renee had told me about," said Jacob as light went off in his head and he began to smile. I laughed though because as he tried to smile, his mouth hurt from where Edward had hit him and he couldn't smile. "Listen dude, we're just friends. There's no need for any ruckus to break out. I'm gonna go, but Bella call me if you want to do coffee sometime."

"Not likely Jacob, but good luck at Parsons," I yelled out as he turned away disappointed and I looked up at Edward. "Hi."

"Hi," he replied shyly as I noticed him rubbing his hand. It probably hurt like hell from punching Jake.

"Do you want some ice for that?" I asked nervously as he shook his head. I couldn't recall Edward ever being this shy before, and it was a little disconcerting. He stepped into the apartment with Emmett at his heels and I guided him into our kitchen.

"Rose and I are going to go out for dinner. Do you think you kids can play nice, or do I need to call Garrett over here to keep an eye on you two?" laughed Emmett as he wrapped his arms around Rose's shoulders and led her towards the door.

"I think we can manage not to kill each other," said Edward as he glared at his brother. God I hoped this wasn't some setup and Edward didn't know where he was going.

"I didn't make him bring you here, so I hope you're not mad at me," I said sweetly as I handed Edward the towel filled with ice and he put it on his hand. God I wanted to touch him, even just for a second. It would be better than never touching him again.

"No, I came because I wanted to. Balls in my court and all that shit right?" I nodded my head absentmindedly and we walked towards the couch, sitting across from each other instead of beside, which made my heart ache a bit. I couldn't stand being this close to him, yet being so far away. "So, how are you?"

"Eh, I've been better. From the looks of the luggage under your eyes I'm assuming you would say the same?" I asked casually as he reached up and ran a finger under his eye. Yeah babe, you look like shit too, I thought to myself.

"Yeah well, school and living with Emmett will do that to you." He was being more quiet and reserved than I remembered, but right now I would take it any way I could get it. "How are your classes?"

"I don't know. I start on Monday. This past week was all syllabuses and prep. Nothing exciting really. If it wasn't for Emmett and Rosalie I would have been bored out of my mind." I watched as Edward just nodded his head in agreement. This was getting to be more awkward than I imagined. If we started to talk about the weather, I was going to kill myself. "I'm sorry."

"Me too," replied Edward as he ran his fingers through his hair nervously. I was shocked that he seemed to be apologizing. "I'm sorry I didn't let you talk to me and I'm sorry I listened to Alice who was the one who suggested we not worry about being apart. That probably scared the shit out of you and made you even more reluctant to tell me. I'm sorry I over reacted."

"Yeah, but it's all my fault. I was the one who was too scared to tell you in the first place. None of this would have happened if I had just been honest to begin with." I let out a long sigh and then Edward and I sat in silence for a few minutes as I watched him hold the makeshift ice pack against his knuckles. I forced out all my courage and moved over to sit beside him, grabbing his hand in mine and holding the ice down for him. "Does it hurt?"

"Not anymore." God I wanted to kiss him so badly, but suddenly he pulled his hand away from me and stood up.

"I am so sorry. I totally forgot I had somewhere to be tonight," I looked over at the clock and saw Edward grimace and mumble 'shit' to himself. I knew I was frowning now; there was possibly even a little pout. "Can we talk again later? I promise I'll call" I just nodded my head and watched him run from the apartment. I threw myself back down on the couch and buried my head in my hands. I was pissed and sad at the same time. I wanted answers, so I grabbed my coat and purse and practically ran out of the dorms, hailing the first cab I could find to take me to Edwards. When I knocked on the door, I was nervous I was going to catch him on a date with someone else, but there really hadn't been enough time between our conversation and me getting to his place. I waited patiently at the door and could hear the muffled sounds of a conversation going on in the room. When the door opened, I wasn't greeted by Edward. The guy was tall, fairly well built with blonde hair and was very attractive. He had a phone glued to his ear and I thought I was at the wrong apartment for a moment.

"Hi Bella, I'm Jasper. Come on in," he said as he held the door open wide for me and then held up one finger, signaling for me to hold on. My first instinct was to question how he knew my name, but if Emmett had seen photos, than Jasper surely had too.

"Yes Alice, Bella is here… No Edward isn't here. I don't know if they have talked Alice. Listen, I love you and I'll call you later okay babe?" Jasper was silent for a few more minutes before he finally hung up the phone and tossed it on the counter.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt, I was looking for Edward," I said casually as Jasper sat down on the couch.

"He's not with you?"

"No. He was, but then he ran out like a bat out of hell and I kind of wanted to talk to him." Jasper looked at me sympathetically. He had probably been caught in the crossfire of Edward and Alice for the past few weeks and I instantly felt bad for him.

"You can stay and wait, I don't mind. Do you play 'Halo'?" I glanced over at him in confusion and realized he was talking about a video game.

"Um, not really, but I'm a quick learner." I sat down on the couch beside him and quickly took the controller he offered and he showed me which buttons to press to do certain actions. "So, do you know where Edward went?"

"He actually had to head to some concert hall or something like that. It's for his music appreciation class I think. I tried to remind him before he left, but he seemed a little eager to go see you," laughed Jasper as he showed me how to maneuver the figures in the game.

"He punched out an old family friend tonight," I admitted ruefully. Jasper didn't seem too shocked by this revelation though. I felt such an easy rapport with Jasper, that before I realized it, I had confessed virtually all my sins to him. He sat there, focused on the game, and spewing out advice like Oprah. It was liberating to talk to him about it because he was the closest person to Edward, other than Alice. "Does he still love me?"

"Oh hell yeah he does. That never went away, trust me. I watched him while we were home and it was eating him up to be without you." I sighed from Jasper's words and then looked over at the clock, it was almost ten. "I think he's supposed to be home soon. Why don't you go wait in his room?" suggested Jasper as he pointed down the hallway to a lone door.

"No, that's okay. Thanks for the help and the game," I said as I lifted the controller before putting it down on the table.

"Really Bella, go wait in his room. He won't be too late. He never stays out late anymore. He's not exactly the same guy who left for Europe two and a half months ago." I nodded my head reluctantly and walked towards Edwards's room. If he didn't show up soon, I would just sneak out while Jasper was distracted by his video game, I told myself as I cautiously turned the knob. I was kind of hoping it was locked so I could just run home, but I was also relived it was open because I was certain the entire room smelled like Edward and I had missed that.

I turned on the main light and shook my head in disbelief at his room. Sure, it looked like the usual college boys room, a decent bed, a couple of pillows, a desk, laptop and all that shit, but covering every square inch of the walls in the room were the maps Edward had picked up during our trip. I walked closer to the wall on the left hand side of the room and immediately noticed the map of Hamburg near the bottom of the wall, with the map of Copenhagen above it. Where the city of Copenhagen should have been located though was a picture of us that we took together on the beach. I walked towards another wall and looked at the map of Paris, where I happily smiled at the picture that was taken of us at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

I sat down on his bed and felt a little overwhelmed. Jasper made me come into the room specifically so I could see all of this. See that Edward still loved me, and always loved me. There was never any 'past tense' like he said at the airport. I laid down, my head getting comfortable on his pillows and glanced towards his nightstand where I saw a picture of me sleeping in a small pewter frame. I released a breath I didn't know I was holding and felt my heart flutter. All I could think about was how he still slept beside me every night, except now it was a picture in a frame, instead of my actual body. I pulled off my sweatshirt and my shoes and got comfortable on his bed. I was definitely not going anywhere until we talked. Unfortunately for me, I fell asleep before Edward came home.

I could hear muffled voices outside of the door and they woke me from my peaceful sleep on Edward's bed. I could definitely hear Jasper and as I was about to get off the bed, Edward suddenly walked in, looking very surprised.

"What are you doing here?" he asked nervously as he looked up at one of the walls and then over to me.

"I wanted to play 'Halo' with Jasper for four hours and then pass out on your bed. What do you think I'm doing here? I wanted to talk to you." As the words came out of my mouth, I suddenly sounded very pathetic.

"I'm really sorry about running out earlier. There was this thing I had to go to for class."

"Yeah, Jasper told me," I said casually as I sat up in the bed, pulling my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them. Edward sat at the end of the bed and just stared at me. I figured since I was the one who came all this way to talk, I should go first. "I miss you and I love you. I want you back; I want us back to the way we were. I know I screwed up, but I want the chance to make it up to you. Only you."


	35. Somewhere to Anywhere

**A/N: First of all, everyone should thank Flightlessbird11. Today is her birthday and I promised her a new chappie, so here it is. Enjoy!**

**Krooney… I love you too, in that planontic, fan fic friendship kind of way! LOL**

**Big hugs to my usual crew and their awesome reviews: melferd, mmwalker, flightlessbird11, MeghanBailey, lysvia, lovebuggkiss and MaggieMay14. If I missed anyone, I love you too!**

**I don't own Twilight, but I do own the movie Dodgeball. If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!**

**EPOV**

When Bella admitted that she wanted to work things out with me, I wasn't surprised, but I couldn't formulate a cohesive thought in my brain to figure out what to say in response to her. Bella just stared at me for a few minutes before she broke the silence.

"I like what you've done with the place," she said with a small laugh that made me practically melt inside. I loved her laugh.

"Yeah well, I can be a little OCD sometimes," I replied as she looked over at the picture on nightstand and then back at me.

"Do you still love me?" she asked nervously as she tugged on the hem of her shirt, her eyes never leaving mine. I just nodded my head, still unable to speak. Part of me was also still in shock from finding her lying on my bed in the middle of the night. "Do you want me?" I nodded again, but I wasn't sure if she meant sexually or for the long term. Of course, I wanted both, but I didn't want her to think it was just about sex.

"Maybe we should start from scratch and go out on a regular old fashioned date?" I suggested casually, relieved that I could finally say something to her. Of course, that wasn't what I really wanted to do. I had her alone on my bed, something I had dreamed of for the past three weeks. I was sexually frustrated and all I wanted to do was push her onto her back and do several ungodly things to her, but I shook the naughty image from my head and waited for her response.

"I don't want to go back. I want to be where we were… I want the cuddling, the small gestures, the grand gestures and the amazing sex. I want it all." Bella looked so forceful as she spoke, that I could tell she was being brutally honest with me, which I appreciated. "We can go on a date, but I don't want to pretend that nothing happened. It will make us stronger, because we were able to move past everything and still be together."

"What are you doing tomorrow night or tonight I suppose since it's almost two in the morning?" I asked anxiously as I tentatively reached over to take her hand in mine. God it felt so good to touch her again.

"Well that would be Sunday night and I have no plans. I do have an eight o'clock class on Monday morning though," she remarked casually.

"We're gonna go out then. Dinner maybe a movie or something, I can pick you up at five. Does that work for you?" Bella nodded her head as I realized one small issue we hadn't discussed. "Do you need me to drive you home? It is pretty late." She stared at me for a moment and then pulled her shirt off over her head, leaving her before me in just a bra. _Fuck me_.

"We're not going back remember? We're moving forward and I am sleeping here. If we had never gotten into our fight, I'd be here, fast asleep in your arms anyways," she remarked as she stood and pulled her jeans shorts off, climbing under the covers of my bed in just her underwear. I was still immobile at the end of my bed, my mouth open a bit in surprise. "Get in bed Edward."

"Are you sure?" I asked tentatively. Bella simply nodded her head and pulled back the covers on the other side of my bed, revealing her black lace covered panties to me. I removed all my clothes as quickly as possible, with the exception my boxers and climbed into bed with her, wrapping my arm around her and pulling her close to me. We both sighed at the exact same time as I buried my face in her neck, breathing in her scent. "Alice is coming next weekend for a visit; will you be around to meet her?"

"Do you want me to be?" asked Bella as I nodded my head against her shoulder. "Yeah, I'll be around. I need to thank her for her help anyways."

"Why, what did Alice do for you?" I asked curiously. I knew they had emailed while we were apart, but I wasn't aware of the specifics. I ran my fingers through Bella's hair as I waited for her answer.

"She gave me your address and told me that you were having just as rough of a time as I was," sighed Bella as she nuzzled closer to me, her head resting on my chest. "Thank you for punching Jacob."

"No problem. Well, my hand hates you, but it's okay. I wanted to punch him from the first moment you mentioned that he emailed you. Plus, he looked like he was making you really uncomfortable, and I didn't want to see that," I replied as I kissed her temple and squeezed her tightly to me. "I've missed this."

"I've missed everything. I was so pathetic without you. If it wasn't for my dad, I wasn't sure what I would have done."

"What does your dad have to do with this?" I inquired as I felt her slide her leg in between mine, her knee almost rubbing my hard cock. I shouldn't have been thinking about it as we discussed her dad, but I couldn't help it. She was just as irresistible now as she had been in Europe.

"He just told me a story about how he once had to win my mom back after they broke up and it gave me a little confidence and determination to do something to get you back. He actually encouraged me, which was unexpected," said Bella with a yawn. Damn right that was unexpected, I thought to myself.

"What did your mom say?"

"She didn't say much, but her actions spoke louder than her words to me. She told Jacob I was single and told him where to find me. I'm guessing she would rather I was with Jacob than you." I let out a deep breath and held her tightly. "Don't worry, there's no chance in hell of that ever happening."

"You're right. It won't happen. I have you back and I'm definitely not letting you go again."

The next morning wasn't nearly as awkward as I would have thought. It wasn't as normal as it had been in Europe, but it was nice nonetheless. I woke up before Bella and let her to continue to sleep as I headed into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. Emmett and Jasper were sitting on the couch, playing Xbox again and they looked like they hadn't slept.

"Have you guys been up all night?" I asked Jasper as he jerked his body slightly, in time with the controller he was holding.

"I was about to go to bed when jerkwad over here got home and wouldn't fucking shut up," replied Jasper as he pointed over at Emmett who was smiling brightly. "So, now we're on a mission to finish the game and we're on the last level. We're going to bed after that."

"It's nine in the morning." I sighed as I pulled the coffee from the cupboard and started to make a pot.

"What happened to Bella dude? Did you take her home last night?" Had Jasper been that enthralled in his game that he never noticed Bella never left? Apparently so.

"She's asleep in my room, so keep it down," I said casually as they paused the game and both turned to look at me. "Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?" asked Emmett with a shit eating grin on his face.

"Don't look at me like you're waiting for me to spill every single thing that happened. You know better than that."

"Well if she stayed over, and I didn't hear any panting or screaming, I can only assume it was a PG rated evening," said Jasper with a bit of a frown. I simply nodded my head. "Can you tell us something? Are you guys back together?" he asked as he stood from the couch and grabbed a few coffee mugs from the cupboard for all of us. "She's good people man. After hanging out last night with her, if I didn't have Alice, I would definitely try to hook up with her."

"Ok, both of you need to stop having thoughts about Bella like that. She's mine, at least I think she's mine. We didn't necessarily label us, but we're together so that's all that matters to me."

"Thank god! Alice will be so relived. Now she can stop talking about her ideas to reunite you two. It was really starting to drive me nuts," sighed Jasper as he grabbed the sugar and cream, putting them on the counter. I was about to make another comment, when suddenly my bedroom door opened and Bella walked out in her shorts and my t-shirt, looking absolutely adorable. She wrapped her arms around my waist as I kissed her head.

"Good Morning Peanut," said Emmett with a huge smile, as I Bella simply waved at him before she started to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

"Go back to bed. I'll bring in some coffee," I suggested as she hugged me tightly. "Don't worry, this isn't a dream," I said with a laugh.

"Thank god," she chuckled as she sat down on a stool at the end of the counter and held out a mug to me, signaling she wanted her morning caffeine fix. I poured her drink and watched Emmett and Jasper quickly lose interest in us and go back to their video game.

"Do you want to go out for breakfast?" I asked casually as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Actually, I have a ton of shit to do back at the dorm if I want to go out tonight, so I'm just gonna take a cab back across town," she replied as she ran her finger around the edge of the mug.

"I have a car Bella. I'll drive you home and then I'll see you later tonight," I suggested as Bella simply nodded her head and walked back into my room. She came out only moments later with her purse and cell phone and tried to shove her halter top into her purse. "Give me two minutes to get dressed and then we can go."

**BPOV**

It took almost twenty minutes to get across town in Sunday morning traffic and the longer we sat in traffic, the more Edward got annoyed. "You could have walked home by now," he said sarcastically as I reached my hand over the console to intertwine our fingers. I shivered from the touch of his skin against mine, even if it was only our hands. It didn't matter, because he was mine again.

"So, what's on the agenda for tonight? Do I dress casual, fancy, in nothing at all?" I asked, hoping to get a smile out of him. Edward just grinned at me, no doubt picturing me naked and rubbed his temple.

"What have you done in New York? Have you seen any sights?"

"None," I replied honestly. "When I wasn't preparing for classes or organizing my dorm room, I was plotting ways to get you back into my life." Edward laughed at me as we then pulled into the parking lot of the dorm.

"Um… dress casual then. Some jeans or a dress would work. Nothing too fancy. The dress from Paris can stay in the closet, for tonight," he said sweetly as I leaned over and kissed him before opening the door to the car. "Five o'clock. Be ready Bella." I nodded my head at him and closed the door. As I walked up the stairs to my room, his shirt still covering me, I didn't feel like I was doing the standard walk of shame. Instead, I was beaming with excitement. When I stepped into the apartment, Rosalie was pacing around the kitchen waiting for the pot of coffee to brew.

"Where the hell were you?" she asked angrily as I tossed my purse on the counter and my shirt fell out. "So, who's the lucky guy?"

"Do you honestly think it would be anyone other than Edward?" I asked as I walked off towards my room, smiling happily. "We have a date tonight." Rosalie was all over me at this point, running into my room behind me, desperate for details.

"So, what happened? I should have guessed that was where you would be." I released a big sigh and told her the story of the events of the night before. She seemed pleased that we had worked through all of our issues. "You should know one thing Bella, as much as I like you and consider you a friend; I am on Edward's side. If something happens to ruin whatever it is the two of you have, I will always pick him because of Emmett. I hope you're okay with that?"

"I understand Rosalie, really I do. I don't plan on doing anything to screw this up. I'm just ecstatic that we're giving it another shot." With that, Rosalie stepped from the room and I began to do some cleaning and preparation for class tomorrow. I got all my clothes pulled out for school in the morning and packed my backpack with all the necessary books for my first day of class. As it approached noon, I decided it was late enough in the day that I could call Angela to tell her what happened. I was giddy when I dialed her phone number, a huge smile across my face.

"Good Morning Bella… it's nine in the morning here, so you better have a good excuse for calling," Angela said sleepily to me, as I bounced on my bed, bursting with excitement.

"We're back together," I replied hastily as I heard her say something on the other end, most likely to Ben. "We had a fairly decent talk last night, but I'm sure we'll talk more tonight because WE HAVE A DATE." I practically yelled at her as I spoke, but I didn't care. We talked for the next ten minutes about everything that happened yesterday, including the Jacob debacle. She simply laughed at my mother's persistence and Jacob's stupidity.

"Did you tell your parents that you guys are back together?" asked Angela nervously.

"No, not yet. I am going to call them tomorrow. I don't want Renee to spoil my mood before the date tonight." Angela agreed with me wholeheartedly on this issue, which I appreciated. "I know my dad will be happy though, since he encouraged me to fight for him." After talking to Angela for another half an hour, I ambled into the kitchen to fix myself some lunch and could hear Rosalie in her bedroom doing some yoga. I walked towards the door as my Mac and Cheese cooked and cleared my throat to get her attention.

"What's up Bella?" she asked curiously as she bent down and grabbed her ankle, stretching her calf muscle.

"Can you help me get ready for my date tonight? Like, help with my hair or something? I usually just toss it up into a ponytail, but I really want to look super hot tonight," I said with a reluctant sigh. Rosalie's face lit up after I spoke, she was clearly into the idea.

"Sure. The date's at five right?" she asked curiously as I nodded my head. "Shower around three and then come see me. We'll have Edward eating out of the palm of your hand before you even leave the apartment."

Rosalie was a god send that afternoon. When I came to her after my shower, she immediately set to work on my hair, and then did my makeup as we waited for her hot rollers to do whatever it was they were doing. She even helped me pick out a perfect outfit, which because of the humid weather, ended up being a pale blue belted dress I had picked up at Banana Republic in Seattle in the spring. Rosalie lent me a pair of heels that weren't too obnoxious and smiled at me happily as she inspected her work just before five o'clock. "He won't be able to resist you," laughed Rosalie as she helped herself to a Diet Pepsi from the fridge.

"He couldn't resist me when I wore old sweats, so I'm not overly concerned," I replied casually as suddenly there was a knock on the door. Rosalie opened it as I headed back to my bedroom to fetch my purse. When I walked in, she looked like she was giving him the third degree.

"And what are you intentions with my roommate?" she asked him with a sly grin and a loud laugh.

"Fuck off Rosie," he replied with a chuckle. "Are you ready to go? Shit you look good Bella." I nodded my head at Edward and as he led from the apartment, I looked back at Rosalie and shot her a quick wink.

"Don't do anything I would do," she yelled out with a chuckle as I heard the door close behind us. Edward held me tightly at the waist as we walked outside to the parking lot and stepped into his car. We drove in silence for a few minutes, his hand intertwined in mine.

"I actually have nothing major planned. I made some reservations for dinner, but I wasn't sure what else to do. I had to work on a project for school most of the day, so I hope you're not mad," he explained sweetly as I gripped his hand tighter.

"I don't care if we sit on a bench in central park and eat street corner hot dogs."

"Fuck, who told you my plans?" he said with a snicker as we pulled into a parking garage and he helped me from the car. We walked silently, hand in hand, into a small Italian restaurant that was absolutely packed. He gave his name to the hostess, who looked suddenly nervous and seated us immediately at the best seat in the place.

"Okay, why are we so special?" I asked anxiously after she had handed me the menu and walked from the table. The hostess was extremely tense around us, and it didn't get any better when our waiter, Paul, showed up a few minutes later.

"My parents are part owners here," he replied casually as he ordered us each a Coke and we stared at the menu. Of course they were owners, I thought to myself as the manager came out and introduced himself to Edward. It was a little unnerving to experience the type of service we received. We got our drinks only seconds after we had requested them. Our dinner came just as quickly, with some of the other patrons noticing that we were served before them, though they had been in the restaurant longer. "Are you okay?" he asked as I took a bite of the chicken parmesan I had ordered. It was marvelous.

"Yeah, I just feel a bit like a movie star or something," I said with a nervous laugh.

"It wasn't my first choice to come here, but when I couldn't get reservations anywhere else, Emmett reminded me of this place, so here we are. It's hard to plan a date on such short notice," he replied with a laugh as I felt his fingers reach out to touch mine.

"You know I don't care where we go. In fact, I'm kinda hoping all of our other dates will be more casual, maybe a movie or an art gallery," I replied easily. Edward simply nodded his head and focused on his dinner, before we moved into more dangerous territory.

"What did you do back in Forks?" he asked casually as he ordered us a tiramisu for dessert, with two spoons.

"Not a lot actually. I spent time with Angela, packed my stuff for college, dealt with my parents and cried over you mainly," I said honestly as his hand grasped mine.

"Sounds like what I did, minus the talking to Angela part."

"But Alice said you were really fucked up when she emailed me and they all were keeping a close eye on you. There must have been something else going down, right?" I asked curiously. Alice hadn't given me any specifics, but I would have been lying if I said I wasn't interested in knowing what Edward had been up to those three heart wrenching weeks we were apart.

"Do really want to know? And you promise you won't hold it against me?" I simply nodded my head, eager for him to continue. "I spent most of my time drinking and smoking up. I did acid one night, fuck that was a bad idea. I kept seeing you everywhere, which was honestly not a good thing. I also tried repeatedly to hook up with random girls, and Jasper or Emmett would always save me before anything happened. There were a few instances, where even though I was willing, I couldn't move. Don't worry I didn't sleep with anyone. I didn't even kiss anyone, but I thought if I did, you would stop being the only thing I thought about. "

I felt remorseful as he told me about his three weeks. He had gone a completely different route that I had, but it didn't matter to me. It was in the past and we were moving forward. I explained this to Edward and we ate our dessert together, with a casual silence between us. Once Edward had paid for dinner, we hopped in the car and drove back to his apartment where we laid on his bed together, simply enjoying the closeness.

"So, I told Alice today that we got back together," he said with a nervous sigh as I slowly started to unbutton his shirt.

"How did that go?"

"She was like a kid in a candy store. She's going to be staying with you and Rose when she gets into town next Friday. Emmett and I are making her, because we really don't want her staying with Jasper," he said, sounding completely like the over protective big brother, which was really sweet. "I am forewarning you, Alice can be a little um… excitable."

"No worries, I expected as much. How bad can it be right? After all, we both love you?"

**A/N: I hope I didn't disappoint you all because there is no lemon. Next chapter Hurricane Alice blows into town and there will be a weekend chock full of drunken debauchery! Yah!**


	36. Anywhere to Heaven

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to some of my lovely readers, specifically melferd, mmwalker, lysvia, maggiemay14, lovebuggkiss, bacmel79 and everyone else who was looking for some angry aggressive makeup sex.**

**Let the drunken debauchery start! I also wanted to get my reviews from the creepy 666 that is was the moment I posted this. I also love all 350 of you who have this story on alert and the 120 of you who have me as a favorite author. I write for you guys!**

*** I don't own twilight, but I do have two plane tickets back to Toronto on May 26****th****. The move is official***

**BPOV**

I was running late, in fact, I was running so late, I had to call Edward to let him know I couldn't go with him to the train station to pick up Alice. This was over an hour ago and I was only now rushing from the library with three different books about feminism and half of a report finished for one of my classes. Edward had texted me ten minutes ago to remind me of our dinner plans at his place. Without that reminder, I still might be buried in books at the library. I ran across campus and sprinted up the stairs to my apartment, falling just as I reached the top step, my books going everywhere. Thankfully, Rosalie heard the commotion I caused and rushed out to join me.

"He'll wait for you ya know," sighed Rosalie as she picked up the books and brought them into our apartment. I walked in behind her, breathless and holding onto my knee where I had scraped it.

"I know he will. I'm just nervous about meeting Alice. I know that Emmett is the sarcastic teddy bear of the family and Edward is the black sheep. I just don't know what to expect with Alice," I explained as I threw my book bag on the couch and looked over at Rosalie. She was dressed impeccably in a pair of low rise jeans and a cute white top. Her hair was in a fairly lavish updo for dinner and drinking at her boyfriends place. I immediately felt that what I had picked out wasn't suitable.

"With Alice, the best advice I can give you is to expect the unexpected. She has a heart of gold, but the most important things to her are her older brothers and Jasper. She'll probably only sleep here tomorrow night. According to Emmett, we should plan on sleeping there due to the amount of alcohol he hopes we drink," laughed Rosalie as I stepped into my room, nervous again about my clothing choices.

"Rose, can you help me get ready?" I asked sweetly, knowing full well she would gladly help.

"Sure, but this is Alice's deal. She's the makeover queen. Did I tell you she already got accepted to Parsons for fashion design? She was a few credits short to graduate early, but she'll be going in January." Great, I now knew two people going to the Parsons School. Too bad I couldn't stand the first one. I watched in curiosity as Rose searched through my closet for something decent. She smiled wide when she came across the designer cocktail dress Edward had got for me. "I might need to borrow this one night."

"Just make sure you ask first, it's a little special to me," I replied with a smile as I thought wistfully about that evening with Edward. Rosalie simply nodded and pulled out my short white skirt I had gotten in Amsterdam and my retro Care Bears t-shirt, leaving them on the bed to change into as she left me to get dressed. I reached into my drawer and grabbed one of the bra and panty sets I had gotten in Europe, and slipped them on before adding the rest of the outfit. I had dreamt all week of the things I wanted to do to Edward. We hadn't had sex since we got back together. Ironically, we had hardly touched each other, whereas in Europe we couldn't keep our hands off of the other. On the nights I was free, Edward had late music labs, so we were forced to endure long phone calls and text messages the entire week.

When Rosalie came back into the room, she held an arsenal of hair styling products and immediately set to work on my thick mess of brown hair. It was only twenty minutes later that Rosalie had transformed my hair into a beautiful mass of perfects curls that fell down my back. Rosalie smiled at her handiwork as there was suddenly a heavy knock on our door.

"Emmett," shouted Rosalie happily as she opened the door and threw herself at him, her lips covering his and her legs wrapped around his waist. He grabbed her ass and never once let her go, even when he pulled away to talk to us.

"Are you girls ready? Dinner has been ordered, booze is chilling and your ride is downstairs waiting," laughed Emmett as he grabbed Rosalie's bag and headed out into the hallway, still holding her like she was cradled in a baby bjorn. I grabbed my own bag and locked the door behind us, eager to get the night started. After the week I had, I was desperate to be with Edward, and a nice bottle of Guinness.

When we finally stood in the elevator on the way up to the boys' apartment, my heart was practically beating out of my chest. I had texted Edward as we pulled into the parking garage to let him know we were here and he was waiting, with a huge smile, outside the apartment door. When he reached for my hand and pulled me off to the side of the hallway, I felt a little relieved.

"I thought we should talk for a second before you face Alice," he explained with a laugh. I hardly registered what he was saying though. My lips were on his quickly as my hands ran through his hair. When I finally pulled away, Edward's smile was even bigger. "I missed you too baby."

"Are we going to get some alone time tonight?" I asked anxiously. I was trying to be sexy, but I think it came off as desperate, although right now, I didn't really care how it came off.

"Well, you are sleeping in my room, so I'm sure some sort of arrangement can be made," he whispered into my ear as I felt his hand grip my ass tightly. "Pizza should be here soon, and there's vodka, beer, jager, and tequila. I think you should take it easy on the booze tonight though."

"Why is that dad?" I asked sarcastically as he took my overnight bag from me and laced the fingers of our free hands together.

"Alice is eager to play truth or dare tonight, and I know how frisky you get when you drink," sighed Edward a little nervously.

"You've never complained about my friskiness," I said with a laugh as I leaned against his shoulder. We finally took a step forward and walked tentatively into the apartment. I think Edward was just as nervous as I was for me to meet Alice. The moment I was in the room, I was suddenly away from Edward, my body now being ensconced by a small dark haired pixie I could only assume was Alice.

"She needs to breathe Alice," chastised Edward as he walked into his bedroom with my bag, leaving me alone with her. Emmett and Rosalie had disappeared into his room as soon as we got here, and Jasper was at a late class.

"It's so nice to meet you Alice," I said politely as I extended my hand to her. She didn't grab it; instead she pulled me into another hug.

"You are so cute. I was disappointed when you sent the photos to New York and I couldn't see you before now. I practically begged Edward to scan me one and email it, but he refused. Jasper and Emmett both said you were cute, but you can never trust boys, ya know?" I was a little overwhelmed by her immediately. She talked a mile a minute and I wasn't even sure I was supposed to respond to her, so I simply nodded and prayed Edward would save me soon.

"Thanks for giving me the address Alice and for believing in me… I mean us," I said happily as Edward strolled over and wrapped his arm around my waist.

"So, things are back to normal?" asked Alice curiously as we all sat down in the living room and turning up the music to drown out the noise of whatever Emmett and Rose were doing. I looked up at Edward, awaiting his response to the question.

"Yeah, they are almost completely back to normal," he said with a sigh as his hand reached up and started to move casually along the back my neck. "After tonight, we should be completely back to normal." I wanted to jump off the couch and drag him to his room right now to fuck him, but I didn't move. It would have been rude to leave Alice as I had crazy make up sex with her brother.

It was only a few minutes later when Emmett strolled out of his room, smiling from ear to ear. "I'm hungry," he said with a wicked grin as we all simply laughed at him.

"No shit," yelled Edward, just as there was a knock on the door. Emmett had probably timed his sexcapdes with Rosalie to fit into his pizza eating schedule, I thought to myself with a smile. Edward rose from the couch quickly and paid for the food as Emmett grabbed the four boxes and put them on the counter, immediately opening one and grabbing a slice. He was clearly famished, I laughed to myself as Rosalie finally stumbled from the room, her perfect updo ruined, but her smile brighter than ever. I allowed myself to be envious of her for a moment, until Edward handed me a plate of pizza and I looked up at his eyes. They were strong and intense; he was clearly as horny as I was.

It wasn't long after we started eating that Jasper finally showed up, his classes over for the weekend. He and Alice had an awkward reunion in front of Edward and Emmett but no one said anything, which I found amusing. Once we had finished our pizza, Emmett was excited to get started drinking. "So, did you boys ever finish Halo?" I asked curiously as Edward went to the kitchen to get us each a beer.

"Yeah, it took until one thirty in the afternoon and I ended up sleeping until four the next morning, but we did it," said Jasper proudly as he worked on his dinner. "So, we already all know that this is Alice's weekend and she asked to play truth or dare. Anyone against this?"

No one responded to Jasper's questions, but everyone looked around at each other, suddenly feeling fifteen. "Can we play seven minutes in heaven next?" laughed Emmett as Rosalie punched him firmly on the shoulder.

"Seven minutes Emmett? Wow, I don't know how Rosalie could ever be satisfied in seven minutes?" I said with a sarcastic laugh as he glared me. "Time for the game then?" I suggested before Edward had to defend my honor from his own brother.

"Just for that comment Bella, I'm going to ask my question first." I sighed as Emmett stroked his chin, like he was thinking hard about what to ask. "Truth or Dare?"

I took a long sip of my beer, steeling myself for the question that was sure to follow when I said "Truth". Emmett looked at me and I took a seat on Edward's lap, hopeful that being so close to him would make this a bit easier.

"Is it true that you've had sex on a boat?" Well that seemed pretty tame.

"Yes. Twice," I answered easily as I noticed Edward looking up at me with a grin. He had clearly told them more than I thought he had.

"Alice, Truth or Dare?" I asked casually. She was the one who wanted to play this game, so might as well drag her into this mess. She quickly said 'truth', so I launched into my fairly innocuous question. "What is your favorite body part on Jasper?"

I thought she would say something very tame, like his lips or his eyes, but Alice surprised me. "His fingers," she replied with a giggle as Rosalie gave her a high five. Edward looked awkward for a moment, but took a quick drink of his beer as I ran my fingers through his hair soothingly.

"Rosalie, Truth or Dare?" We all stopped to watch her as Alice finished her initial question. I wasn't shocked when Rosalie said Dare, but I was shocked by what Alice asked her to do. "You have to go give Edward and Bella a lap dance. You're clothes can stay on though," laughed Alice. Emmett had a huge grin on his face, and I'm sure he suddenly wished he was us. Then again, knowing them, Rosalie has probably given him plenty of lap dances before. Jasper flipped on the stereo and some techno music started up as Rosalie stood from her seat beside Emmett and walked over towards us.

I immediately tensed as she started to move in front of us, but Edward moved me closer to him, trying to reassure me that this was just a game. Rosie continued to dance, egged on by Emmett who was hooting and hollering at her, which made me find this more amusing. She kissed my cheek when she was done and apologized quietly to me. "Emmett, truth or dare?"

"Dare baby," he replied with a grin as Rosalie instructed him to go and kiss Jasper on the lips. "Ewwww," he replied as he opted not to take the dare and instead drank the rest of his beer as punishment. It didn't seem like much of a punishment to me though since Em loved beer. "Edward, truth or dare."

"Truth," replied Edward with a sigh. I think we both knew any question Emmett gave us would no doubt be cringe-worthy.

"Have you ever rode her bareback?" he asked with a laugh. I looked over at Edward slightly confused.

"Yes." Edward's response was forceful and he was clearly embarrassed for both of us, but I didn't care. "Rosalie, Truth or Dare?" Of course, Rosalie opted for the dare again. I think she preferred to do some stupid stunt rather than open herself up to a long line of questioning about her sexual history with Emmett or anyone else. I felt Edward give me a gentle squeeze before he asked his question. "I dare you to kiss Bella… tongue and everything." I looked down at Edward and before I could even be mad at him, he had a huge smile on his face.

Rosalie was over to me within seconds, her hands cupping my face as she leaned down and kissed me tenderly. Her tongue grazing my bottom lip before plunging inside of my mouth. She tasted good, which shocked the hell out of me. No wonder Emmett loved her so much. When she stepped away from me, I felt a little breathless, even more so when I felt Edward harden beneath me. "That was so fucking hot," whispered Edward quietly as his hand gripped tightly to my ass. This was going to be a long night.

**EPOV**

I was certain Bella would refuse when I dared Rosalie to kiss her, but thank god she didn't. I was hard before Rosalie even kissed Bella's lips. "Consider that your first form of punishment for the Columbia lie,' I whispered to her again as I kissed her neck and she tensed above me.

"The first form?" she replied back to me as Rosalie dared Jasper to dance Risky Business style across the living room floor in his boxers. I simply nodded my head and didn't answer her, opting to let her mind wander about the things that would eventually happen. I tried to pay attention as Jasper yanked his pants off and started to slide around our hardwood floor, but I was focused on Bella instead. She shifted slightly on my lap, causing my cock to strain against my shorts, and I knew she was doing it on purpose. "No teasing," I said sternly as she looked down at me with a grin and stopped.

"Edward," Jasper said a few minutes later, signaling that it was clearly my turn. "Truth or Dare buddy?"

"Truth, I answered succinctly as my gaze held Bella's and I awaited his question, which would no doubt be sexual.

"Best place you ever had sex?" I stopped for a moment and simply replied 'outside in a park.' That was vague enough that they didn't know it was in Europe with Bella, but Bella knew exactly what the deal was.

"Alice," I said casually as I turned towards my baby sister. Before I even had a chance to ask her, she replied 'Dare'.

"Um… go out onto the street and sing 'I'm a little teapot' at the top of your lungs," I said with a laugh as she stood from the couch and everyone, with the exception of Bella and I, followed her outside. I led Bella out onto the patio, where we could clearly see the street below us. There were several people walking around and a small group of students left the building across the street from ours as Alice started to sing. "Take your panties off," I whispered to Bella as I stood behind her and we watched the group below us. She turned back to me a little surprised, but I didn't budge. "Second form of punishment," I said in mock frustration as she reached her hands under the skirt and pulled them down her sexy legs, then offered them to me. I shoved them in the pocket of my khaki shorts, immediately feeling my cock straining against the fabric.

"How many forms of punishment are there?" she asked curiously as we walked back into the apartment and she returned to her position on my lap.

"Don't you want to know," I replied with a laugh as Bella glared me. I leaned forward to suck on her neck, when the rest of our friends wandered into the room. Alice was very proud of herself and took a big sip of whiskey as she returned to her seat. "Before you even asked, we watched from the balcony, so I know you did it."

"Bella… truth or dare?" asked Alice with a smirk on her face.

"Dare," said Bella confidently as I moved my hand from the small of her back to her ass. I listened carefully as Alice told her to disappear into the bathroom with me for five minutes, doing whatever Bella wanted to, but when she came back out, she had to tell everyone. I was certain Bella was going to finish her beer in an effort to not do the dare, but she stood from my lap, straightened her skirt and led me into the bathroom, locking the door behind us.

"You don't have to do anything you know," I told her reassuringly as she pushed me against the bathroom door with a loud thud. Before I had a chance to say anything else, Bella was on her knees in front of me, pulling my shorts down and releasing my cock. Her mouth was wrapped around my hardness almost immediately, her head thrusting me in and out of her as I moaned from the heat of her mouth.

"One more minute," called Emmett from outside the door, as I gripped Bella's hair in mind, trying to finish before our time was up. I felt her teeth graze the underside my cock and I was almost done for. I held her head in my hands and fucked her face for a moment as I came deep in her throat. "Time's up."

Bella stood and kissed my cheek before walking from the bathroom, leaving me a bit flabbergasted. I buttoned my shorts back up and took my seat on the couch, my breathing still a bit labored. Everyone was staring at us as Bella took her seat on my lap. "Oh yeah, I have to tell you what we did," laughed Bella as she wrapped her arm around my shoulder and then wiped her hand across her mouth with a giggle.

"I think we all already know," sighed Alice as Bella realized it was her turn to ask a question. "Emmett… truth or dare?"

"Let's try a truth this time," he replied as he returned from the kitchen holding another piece of pizza and a beer.

"Emmett, is it true you have a tattoo? If so, show us," laughed Bella. This was pretty tame, I thought, until I saw Emmett stand and tugging his pants down. My hands immediately covered my eyes as I heard a quick gasp from Bella. I looked up and saw that Emmett had 'Cullen' tattooed in script along his lower back.

"That is fucking hot," said Bella as Emmett pulled his pants back up.

"When did you get that?" I asked Emmett as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Umm… mid July I guess. Bad idea on a drunken night, but I love it now. The ladies also seem to like it," he said with a wink as he looked over at Bella.

"You like that?" I whispered curiously as Emmett asked Alice to do a body shot off of Rosalie. Bella ignored the happenings around us and simply nodded her head.

"Yeah. I think you'd look hot with one too. Hell, I've always wanted one of my own, on my hip." I suddenly had a mental image of Bella with a tattoo on her hip, me licking it at every possible opportunity. Definitely hot.

"I'll remember that,' I said with a grin as we turned back towards our friends who were laughing happily as Rosalie got off the dining room table, where Alice had taken her shot from her. The rest of the evening progressed slowly, but it was fun nonetheless. Emmett had to strip for strangers out on the street just before one in the morning, but luckily for him there were only three people out there. He also made Rosalie strip down to her underwear for the rest of the evening, which made me relieved he hadn't asked Bella. It was almost two when Alice let out a long yawn and decided that our game was over for the night. I wanted to jump from the couch, with Bella in my arms and run to my bedroom, but we waited patiently as everyone else went to bed and then she followed me into my room.

"Get naked and on my bed," I instructed to Bella the moment we were alone and the door was locked. She looked at me with a grin and simply smiled at me as she complied. I sat across from my bed, in my desk chair and watched her intently as she got comfortable in the center of my bed. "Play with yourself."

"Isn't this punishing you instead of me?" she asked as her hands moved seductively along her breasts, her fingers rolling her nipples gently.

"Did I say you could speak?" I snapped at her, my eyes never once leaving her face. She nodded at me and smiled. I had worried I was taking it a bit too far when I yelled at her, but Bella knew I was playing a role, thank god. I could never bear it if I hurt her. I focused all my attention on her, as her fingers moved down her thighs and she spread her legs wide for me. I gasped at her, because she had waxed herself and was completely bare for me. Fucking hot as hell, I thought to myself as I gripped the arms of the chair.

Bella's fingers moved down to her wetness and she moaned lightly as she rubbed her clit. The pressure was building my pants and I stood up, quickly tugging them off, with my boxers and my t-shirt. Throwing everything in the corner of my room. I turned off the light, opting instead to light a few of the candles I had in my room. Bella's moaning increased and I immediately tensed as I looked at her pleasuring herself. "On your hands and knees," I snapped again before she was able to bring herself to climax. Bella did as I instructed and once she was in position, I moved up to the bed, kneeling right behind her, my cock feeling the heat from her pussy. "You're still on the pill right?" I asked hopeful, as she nodded slowly.

I gripped her hips in my hands and slowly slipped inside of her, reveling in being without the barrier of a condom. "Holy shit," she yelled as I began to plunge my cock in and out of her rapidly, and as hard as I could.

"Fuck, I missed you," I sighed as I wrapped one arm around her waist, grasping her tight to my body as I thrust my rock hard cock deep inside of her. I watched in excitement as Bella pushed herself back onto me, our motions drawing me deeper inside of her. "You have a lot to make up for Bella. You can talk to me now."

"Yes, fuck yes. I'll do whatever you want to make it up to you Edward," she blurt out as she continued to rock her body against mine.

"Who do you belong to?"

"You," she yelled out constantly as though it was a chant. "Always you. Only You," she shrieked as my finger found her clit and began rubbing it furiously.

"Come for me Bella. Make me come with you." It was only moments later than I felt her body tense around me. Every muscle in her tightening as she screamed out my name and exploded around me, causing me to burst into her.

We lay down on the bed together, both of us struggling to catch our breaths. "We are not allowed to go a month without sex, ever again," she said with a laugh as she laid her head on my chest and hugged me close to her.

"Agreed," I said with a smile as I kissed her forehead, where some sweat had accumulated. I reached over to my nightstand and turned on my iPod, which was sitting in its docking station. I searched for a song as Bella held me close, trying to stay awake. "I heard a song that reminded me of you, so I want to play it for you." Bella said nothing, just held me close to her and waited patiently.

"It's called 'Only You' by Joshua Radin," I explained to her as I let the words from the song fill the room.

_All I needed was the love you gave  
All I needed for another day  
And all I ever knew  
Only you_

I listened as Bella let out a long sigh as the music filled the room. She kissed my chest and stared up at me with a genuine smile, just radiating love. "Only you Edward. Always you."

"I love you Bella."

**A/N: Here's my little teaser for the next chapter... they get to celebrate Bella's 19th birthday together in NY. Let the games begin!**


	37. Heaven to the Waldorf Astoria

**A/N: I'm a flabbergasted, over 700 reviews! You guys rock. I'm glad everyone enjoyed the lemon and 'truth or dare' I always tend to shy away from that game in my stories, but I thought it worked well.**

**I'm sure you are all about to be disappointed, because my initial concept for this story is almost over. Of course, we have discussed a sequel and I will probably start that when I get back to Canada in a few weeks. Luckily though, there are still several chapters left in this original story!**

*** I don't own twilight, but I do own a lot of Oasis CD's thanks to my former obsession with brit-pop**

**BPOV**

When I woke up the next morning my whole body ached, but my heart soared. Edward and I had reconnected last night, which was what I had been wishing for since we broke up. A month had gone by with no sex, and I vowed to never let that happen again. I rolled over and watched him sleep before I glanced at the clock. It was ten in the morning. I could hear people out in the kitchen doing something, but I couldn't be bothered to get out of bed. I had almost fallen back to sleep in Edward's arms when there was a knock on the door, which startled Edward awake. I pulled the blankets up against us, and called out that they could come in as Edward kissed my temple.

"Sorry to interrupt whatever it is you two are doing," sighed Alice as she peeked her head in the door and covered her eyes. "But Rose and I are heading shopping and we want to know if you want to come Bella?" I looked over at Edward and he simply nodded his head at me.

"Sure Alice, give me like half an hour to get showered and dressed." She slipped from the room moments later and I lay back down beside Edward, my hands running all over his chest. "I don't want to go."

"I know you don't baby, but it would be nice for you to get out with my sister for a bit. I want you guys to get along." I nodded my head at his words and relented. I hated shopping, and going out with two girls who thrived on it, was probably not a good idea. I stumbled into the shower moments later, ignoring the grumblings from the living room and when I went back into Edward's room, he was still lying in bed.

"If I have to get up, so do you," I replied as I slipped on my bra and panties and then began searching the room for my jeans. During the sex last night, my bag had gotten tossed around the room, and I would probably be searching for weeks for my hair brush.

"I'm not going to let the day go to waste Bella," sighed Edward as he stood from the bed and pulled on a pair of boxer shorts. "I have some stuff to plan… particularly something special for my sexy girlfriends' birthday." I turned around to glare at him as I pulled my hair back into a quick ponytail.

"We already celebrated in Paris, so go do some homework or something," I stammered in frustration as he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. He began kissing my neck, teasing me slightly and I moaned from the pressure I felt on my skin from his lips.

"Nice try. We celebrated in Paris when we thought we wouldn't be together. We're together now, so we are going out for your birthday." Edward was insistent about this issue, and I was instantly nervous. He was going to do something massive, like throw me a huge party in the apartment, and I would hate it. I liked to pretend my birthday didn't exist. Turning nineteen simply holds no appeal for me. Edward and I walked hand in hand out to the living room, where everyone was waiting patiently for us.

"Sleep well?" asked Jasper with a smile as Edward simply nodded at him and poured himself a cup of coffee. I looked at him in confusion until Emmett spoke up.

"Don't worry Bella. We all belong to Edward," he said with a hearty laugh as Edward threw a banana at him, narrowly missing his head.

"Okay, let's go. I don't want to sit around and listen to this shit. We all heard way too much last night," laughed Rosalie as she and Alice each grabbed one of my hands and dragged me from the apartment, completely mortified. We had almost reached the elevator, when Edward caught up to us and gave me a big kiss.

"Get her a nice dress," he told Alice as he handed her a small wad of cash. "We're going out for her birthday next week and she's got to look hot." I was about to protest, but the elevator door opened and Alice pushed me in with a huge smile on her face. Today was going to be sheer hell.

When we finally got back to the boys' apartment, I thought my feet might fall off. I headed to Edward's room and dropped my bags on the floor in a heap, not really caring about what had just been purchased for me. I tugged my shoes off slowly and climbed into his bed, inhaling his scent. We were supposed to head out to dinner with the gang tonight, but the only way I was leaving here is if I was piggy backed into the restaurant.

"Are you sleeping?" asked Edward sweetly when he came into the room twenty minutes later. When I had walked in, he was busy playing Rock Band with Emmett and Jasper, and didn't notice. I think I could have walked in buck naked and he wouldn't have noticed. Damned video games.

"No. I'm resting my feet," I replied casually as I felt Edward lay down on the covers beside me.

"How did the day go? Did you get something to wear?" I simply nodded my head, not wanting to think about the $300 dress currently in a pile on his floor somewhere. "How were things with Alice?"

"Well, she's pushy for such a small gal. She's also very persistent, and I felt bad for every single salesperson she came in contact with. I think I apologized to random people today more than I talked to your sister," I replied with a grin as Edward kissed my cheek. "She talks a lot, and she worships all three of you. I like her."

"I'm glad. She likes you too." That was a relief. I had felt like I had spent the day trying to impress her. I didn't put up a big fuss when she tried to buy me things, but I was still reluctant about the whole deal. I didn't take kindly to being bought such extravagant things, which was probably why Edward made Alice take me shopping. If he had given me a small wad of cash and told me to buy a dress, I would have probably given it to the first homeless person I found.

"So umm… how much did they hear last night?" I asked nervously as Edward pulled me into his arms.

"You don't want to know," he said remorsefully as his fingers reached into my hair and began stroking it gently.

"That much? Shit. Okay, I'm gonna have to keep it down then," I said as I kissed his neck gently.

"Hell no. I love it when you're loud, expressive and begging for me. You definitely scored dozens of brownie points last night." Edward sighed quietly as my hand reached down between us and I started to stroke his hardness through the fabric of his shorts. I was about to roll over and straddle him when his bedroom door flew open and Emmett walked in.

"Come on, we have reservations to keep," he stated firmly as I sat up in the bed, my feet still aching.

"Go without us. Bella's feet are killing her from her day with the shopaholics in there," said Edward forcefully as he pointed towards the living room to Alice and Rosalie.

"Fine, but none of us want to come home to a repeat of last night, so keep it down. Get her a ball gag or something dude," laughed Emmett as he strolled from the room, leaving me looking even more horrified beside Edward. Surprisingly we spent the rest of the evening relaxing on the couch as Edward fed me and massaged my feet. When everyone else returned around nine, Rosalie forced me to head back to the dorms with her and Alice, for what they were calling a 'girls night in'. We spent three hours giving each other manicures and pedicures as they discussed the pros and cons of swallowing, and they didn't mean food.

When the next Friday rolled around, I was relieved the week had gone by so fast, but nervous because today was the thirteenth. My birthday. Charlie and Renee had called the night before to wish me a Happy Birthday and surprised me by putting an extra five hundred dollars in my bank account to do with as I wished. Angela called when I got back from class, but we didn't talk long as I was interrupted by Rosalie who was forced by Edward to help me get ready for the evening. After she finished my hair, which thankfully was just straightened and left hanging down my back, she grabbed my new dress from the closet and handed it to me with a small bag.

"It's from Edward. He said you were supposed to wear it." I looked at her confused as she walked from the room and headed into the kitchen. I opened the bag nervously and found a bra and panty set from La Perla. I laughed at the image of Edward going lingerie shopping; he probably was hard the moment he walked in to the store. He was also probably flirted with by everyone in the store. I slipped on the white lace set and then pulled my dark blue dress over my head, trying not to muss up my hair. When I walked into the living room, Edward was already waiting for me.

"You look stunning," he said with a grin as I walked towards him and kissed his lips firmly. "Don't wait up," he called to Rosalie as I grabbed my purse from the counter and he led us down the stairs. He was dressed impeccably in a pair of black dress pants, white dress shirt and a dark blue tie that matched my dress. Alice must have had some impact on that decision, I thought to myself as he helped me into the cab that was waiting at the door.

"Where's your car?"

"I didn't think I would feel up to driving at the end of the night, so we're cabbing it." I nodded my head, but instantly began wondering why he wouldn't want to drive later. It's not like we're old enough to drink at any restaurants in town. My mind ran through different scenarios, never once finding something to result in Edward not driving. We headed uptown first to a small Greek restaurant that reminded me a lot of our time in Athens. Our conversations throughout dinner were casual, except when he briefly mentioned that his parents were coming into town soon and wanted to meet me.

"Apparently Alice couldn't stop gushing about you when she got home last weekend, and now they want to meet you," Edward mentioned, his voice clearly tense.

"That's fine, I guess. Let me know when and where and I will be there." I nodded my head confidently and Edward just smiled up at me, his bright crooked smile.

"I think we're all going to go, Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper… you know, the entire gang. It might be easier to deal with them that way. They generally tend to be a little more reserved in their criticism of me and Emmett when there are friends around," explained Edward as he took a bit of his salad and continued to seem awkward.

"Alright. What are we doing after this?" I inquired happily, desperate to change the tone of the conversation. It was my birthday and I didn't want to ruin it by discussing his parents.

"We're doing something you'll remember for the rest of your life, now finish up your dinner. Oh, and Rosalie has agreed to stay with Em tonight. I think she just wants to avoid the potential embarrassment that may occur if you and I have manage some alone time tonight." Edward laughed quietly at his comments, no doubt remembering how everyone was mortified the last time we had sex at his apartment.

"Why wouldn't we have alone time?"

"You might not feel up to it Bella." Once again, Edward's comments were very cryptic and I had trouble deciphering them, so I decided not to. We finished our dinner in peace and he paid the bill quickly and led me from the building happily. He hailed us a cab that was going back to my neighborhood, but not to the dorms. We walked in peace down the street for a few blocks after the cab let us out where Edward had told him. I was done questioning Edward and his weird motives this evening, so I just grasped his hand tightly in mine and trusted him completely. "We're here."

I looked around and I had no idea where 'here' was. He opened the door to a small store and when we walked in, I was very surprised. "We're getting tattoos?"

**EPOV**

The moment she had told me last weekend that she wanted a tattoo; I wanted to get her one. It may have just been a selfish desire to put some sort of permanent mark of me on her, since every single hickey I gave her ended up fading away. I couldn't spend every possible moment with her, but she could think of me always with the tattoo. When Bella realized where she was, her face lit up in excitement, but I was nervous. I had resigned myself to getting one with her, especially after she mentioned how hot she found Emmett's, but I was a bit uncomfortable.

"How many are getting done?" asked the burly looking guy behind the counter. He was covered head to toe in various tattoos and piercings, and Bella simply looked at me for my response.

"Two," I said forcefully, hoping that I sounded calm and confident about my choice.

"Okay, well look through the books and the boards over there and let me know what you guys want," he actually seemed like a really sweet guy beneath his rough looking exterior. Bella turned around to grab a book and look through it, as I started to talk to the man again.

"Actually, I already have a design," I replied as I pulled a piece of paper out of my wallet and handed it to him. "We want the same thing."

"We do?" asked Bella curiously as she walked forward and looked at the piece of paper. Jasper had helped me with the overall design, which was a simple tattoo with 'Only You' written in Japanese. "I like it, but what does it say?" asked Bella curiously as the tattoo artist stared down at the image intently.

"It says 'Only You'" replied the artist, who we then learned was named Tyler. Bella and I looked at him with surprise that he knew any Japanese, but I suppose when you are a tattoo artist, you learn a lot of interesting things. "Where do you want it?" He was looking at Bella, and she was confused for a moment.

"The tattoo Bella. He means the tattoo," I laughed as Bella stood still, almost dumbstruck. "She mentioned her hip. I think she wants it somewhere she can see it, but no one else can." Bella nodded at me in agreement and I laughed at her nervousness.

"Well, I want you to be able to see it Edward," she replied with an anxious laugh.

"And you buddy, where do you want it?" asked Tyler as he organized a few things on the desk in front of him and stared up at me expectantly.

"Oh, the back of my right shoulder." I looked up at Bella and she was practically grinning. I think I had surprised her that would go to such lengths for her. I paid the fees for us and Tyler handed Bella a small pair of shorts to change into. I hadn't even considered how difficult it would be to get a tattoo on your hip while wearing a dress, and I really didn't want her to flash _my_ lace panties at him. When Bella returned from the back room, I was already lying face down on the chair, getting prepped.

"You just got like a million brownie points for his," she whispered into my ear softly. "I'll repay you when we get home." I didn't reply, instead choosing to smile brightly at her before I moved back in place and let the artist draw my stencil. I heard Bella shuffle to her chair as Tyler went to work on her, permanently marking her with our words. The entire process was painful, but not as painful as my breakup with Bella last month. When we were finally done, they put our bandages on and Bella slipped from the room to remove the shorts Tyler had given her.

"Thanks," she said to him sweetly as she handed them back to him and reached to her hip, where her tattoo was. She was rubbing it gently because it probably ached like mine. Tyler gave us some information on taking care of them until they were completely healed and we finally left the shop after almost two hours. We walked hand and hand through the night streets, not really paying attention to where we were going and simply enjoying being alone together.

"This was the best birthday," sighed Bella sweetly as I wrapped my arm around her. My shoulder ached slightly from the tattoo, but it was worth it. "When did you decide to get us matching tattoos?"

"The moment you said how hot Emmett's was. I couldn't get the image of me marking you with something permanent, and then me kissing it constantly." Bella blushed profusely at my words, but I just smiled easily and led us down the street.

"It was perfect, if you hadn't chosen this, I probably would have picked some cheesy Daisy or something that holds no meaning to me. Where did you get the design?"

"Well, that you can thank Jasper for. He did it," I said casually. "I told him what I wanted, which of course led to hours of embarrassment on my part, but he pulled through."

"Why the embarrassment? I think it's sweet," said Bella in confusion.

"Well, you clearly don't remember the last time you said those words to me, do you?" I asked her, but she just raised her eye brows and I continued speaking. "The last time we said it, I was fucking you in my room and everyone heard us, remember?" A light went off in Bella's mind and she immediately blushed.

"I'm sorry you had to go through the teasing from Jasper," she laughed with a frown.

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat for you Bella," I answered honestly as we were suddenly walking in front of the Waldorf Astoria. I hadn't even noticed how far we had walked, and immediately thought we should be getting home. We headed up to the front of the hotel, where there were several cabs waiting and moved to get into one when I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"Edward," she called out tensely.

"Mom?" I replied angrily as I gripped Bella to me tightly and turned around to see my parents standing a mere ten feet away from us. "I didn't know you were in town."

"Well, maybe if you called us once in a while, you would know something," snapped my dad as I glared at him. Bella had turned to my mother and was introducing herself politely as my father and I seemed to engage in a staring match.

"Maybe if you were ever home, I could call you," I replied back in frustration. I felt Bella squeeze my hand for support before she reached over and extended her hand to my father.

"Bella Swan. I'm Edward's girlfriend," she said sweetly as my father took her hand and shook it for only a moment before dropping it rudely.

"Okay, well we were just leaving. It's really late," I said tentatively as I opened the door to the cab and Bella slipped in.

"We're in town for two more days. Call my cell in the morning and we'll go out to lunch?" asked my mother genuinely. I simply nodded my head and sat beside Bella in the car, wrapping my arm around her for some support.

"Well, that was odd," she said with a smile as I leaned forward and kissed her lips.

"Looks like we have lunch plans tomorrow."


	38. Waldorf Astoria to Angerville

**A/N: Sorry for the delay with this chapter. Between the move and a little issue writing screwed up parents, I was stuck. It kinda made me wish my parents sucked, so I had a frame of reference. I curse them for being married happily for thirty eight years. LOL.**

**It's not my favorite chapter, but it'll do.**

**Melferd, I think I threw up a little bit when you mentioned Mick Jagger's tats today. I don't have one, but when I was their age, I wanted one. I'm living vicariously for a little bit. My husband has a tattoo with the name of his eldest daughter Devon, but if you focus on it too much, it looks like the name of his ex-wife Dawn. It's a little odd.**

**I won't be putting up a link for the design, because I made it up. Just like the rest of this story! but I promise in the sequel there will be more Jasper and Alice.**

**Anyways, enjoy the story and like always, I don't own twilight, but I do have a bunch of boxes to pack!**

**BPOV**

I was running around my apartment like a mad woman when Rosalie finally showed up at my insistence. She had been at Emmett's all night and when Edward finally headed home in the morning, I made sure she sent Rosalie home immediately.

"I need something respectable," I groaned as I threw my hands up to my face in frustration.

"Calm down Bella and just tell me what is going on. Do you have a court date or something?" she asked as she laughed heartily at my insane behavior.

"That's right Blondie. I have a court date for my assault charge I'm about to get if you don't help me. However, court would be better than going to meet Edward's parents in an hour and a half," I shrieked to her. Rose's eyes lit up in excitement and she headed straight for my closet where she pulled out a black pinstripe skirt I didn't even know I had.

"Alice got it for you last weekend," she said with a sly grin as she tossed it onto the bed and then grabbed a white button down shirt. Paired with the skirt, it wouldn't look that bad. I might look a bit like a librarian or a teacher, but it would work. "So, you're nervous to meet Carlisle and Esme huh?"

"Actually Rose, I met them last night outside the Waldorf Astoria, not two hours after Edward and I got matching tattoos," I replied in a huff as she forced me to sit down on a chair in the bathroom so that she could do my hair.

"You have a tattoo? Sweet! Can I see it?" asked Rosalie as she ran a brush through my hair to get out all the knots caused by Edward's fingers running through it 24-7.

"No, it hurts like hell."

"What is it of?"

"If I tell you, you'll laugh at me, and I'm not ready to be embarrassed while I'm already under such stress." Rosalie laughed at me again, sensing that I was finally going over the edge. "Fine, it's 'Only You' in Japanese. Jasper designed it."

"Why in the hell would you get that?" she asked curiously as she grabbed a section of my hair and began sliding it through the curling iron.

"It's just something Edward and I say to each other," I sighed with a slight grin. Thinking about Edward made this all seem a little more bearable, but only for a moment. Rosalie spent the next forty minutes helping me with my hair and makeup, before she let me put my clothes on all by myself. I felt like a four year old who was finally dressing herself in her big girl clothes. When Edward showed up to drive us to the hotel for lunch in one of the ritzy restaurants, I was nervous all over again.

When we finally walked into the restaurant called 'Peacock Alley', we could both see Esme and Carlisle in the middle of a heated discussion towards the middle of the room. Edward squeezed my hand tightly and led me over to them as he plastered a fake smile all over his face.

"Mom, Dad, nice to see you again," he said reluctantly as he hugged his mom and shook hands with his dad. "This is Isabella Swan, my girlfriend." I nodded my head in acknowledgement and then Esme and Carlisle both extended their hands for me to shake. It was awkward, but Edward was on his best behavior, even pulling out my chair for me before I sat. He told me to ignore all the polite things he would do all afternoon that were out of character for him. He didn't want to give his parents any ammunition for being anything less than a perfect gentleman.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Isabella, officially of course. We have heard so much about you," said Esme politely as she took a sip of her martini and smiled genuinely at me.

"She prefers Bella, Mom," said Edward as his hand gripped mine tightly under the table.

"I'm sorry Bella. Alice said she had a wonderful time meeting you last weekend." I nodded my head at Esme, unsure of what to say.

"She is a wonderful girl. You are all lucky to have such a wonderful daughter and sister." Edward laughed at my comments because I was clearly overdoing the politeness, but I couldn't help it.

"So Bella, tell us a little bit about yourself," said Carlisle as he put his menu down across his plate and stared me intently.

"Well, there's not too much to tell. I'm from a small town in the northwest called Forks, in Washington. My father is the police chief and my mother is a school teacher. I'm taking Art History at Columbia and I'm hoping to one day be a curator at a gallery." I glanced from Edward to Esme, whose face was a lit with a broad smile.

"I took Art History at Yale," she said quietly. "It's probably one of the reasons we have such a big collection at the house. Edward will have to bring you up to Boston one weekend to see it all," she offered sweetly as I sat there looking very shocked.

"Bella actually got me interested in Art. We went to at least one gallery in every city we traveled through in Europe. I've seen Monet's, Manet's, Calder's, Modigliani's and hundreds of other revered artists," said Edward casually as Esme smiled at him too.

"Yeah, Edward wants to hang a Calder original over a baby crib one day," I said with a small laugh as Esme practically threw her hand against the table as she doubled over in laughter. Carlisle's demeanor hadn't changed during any of the conversation though.

"How are your classes going Edward?" asked Carlisle as he turned away from me and focused on his son.

"They're fine. I'm enjoying music theory the most because it's the most challenging, but I enjoy it all." Edward was kind of frustrated his father had changed the conversation, but I didn't really care. I scanned the menu for a few minutes as my jaw dropped at the prices. I decided on a simple Angus Burger, which cost more than the shoes I was currently wearing, but tried not to think about it too much. Once we had all ordered, the conversation was tense again.

"So, how were your travels this summer Dad? Alice told me you were hardly around," said Edward, somewhat angrily. I wasn't sure if he was trying to piss his father off or not, but it was working.

"Business was very busy this summer. Your mother and I had some wonderful trips, including one to Paris and London. Alice was busy with all of her own activities. She wouldn't have noticed if a bus drove through the house," said Carlisle, trying to make a joke, but no one laughed.

"So it was the same as always? Leave the kids home to their own devices and spend the summer doing business in far off countries? Bella, what did you parents do this summer?" snapped Edward, as he drew me into the conversation. I was a little angry that he had done this to me, but I chose to answer it honestly.

"My parents worked. My mother gardened and hung out with friends and family. They went to a Mariners game one weekend and spent that weekend in Seattle. They're homebodies, so they don't do much." I sighed as I finished my explanation and Esme looked at me remorsefully. It was clear Edward had issues with his father, not his mother, and from what I could tell, they were abandonment issues. No wonder he took our separation so hard.

"Edward, we are not discussing your issues here at lunch," said Carlisle with a sigh as I glanced over at Edward who was clearly disappointed.

"These aren't my issues Dad. They are Emmett and Alice's issues too. Why can't we talk about them now? I probably won't see you for another four months, I think now is a really good time," replied Edward tensely as his hand gripped mine even tighter. "Can you just admit that you guys were wrong to leave us to be raised by the butler and the nanny?"

Esme's face grew saddened by this turn of events, and I felt bad for her for an instant. She was clearly as much to blame as Carlisle had been. He traveled for work and she went with him, probably to shop and collect antiques or something like that. They should have been home with their kids, especially considering their massive amounts of disposable income. Edward had clearly wanted his parents around, and they weren't. My heart broke as I pictures a ten year old Edward begging his parents to stay home instead of go away on yet another trip.

"We should have done things differently, but we can't change that now Edward," replied Carlisle as Esme grabbed her drink eagerly and finished it off. The waiter was attentive to her needs though, and quickly brought her another martini.

"You can change for Alice. She's still at home and lonelier than ever now that everyone else is in New York. She might only have four months left until she leaves for Parsons, but four months of something is better than eighteen years of nothing." I was proud at Edward for standing up to his parents, who both sat there still looking a bit shocked. "I don't care anymore, but Alice does. I can hear it in her voice every time she tells me you guys are off in Tunisia or wherever the hell you've gone. When Bella and I have kids, we'll be there for them. We'll take them when we got on vacation, and they will know they were loved."

My mouth was wide open as he spoke openly of us having children together one day. My thoughts and embarrassment were diminished the moment his mother spoke, "Do you think we didn't love you?" I was surprised that Edward didn't comment on this initially. "The last thing we wanted to make you feel was unloved."

"And you think that spending a month a year with your children showed them they were loved?" he replied sarcastically as a waiter approached our table with all of our salads. Conversation halted completely as everyone focused on their lunch and ate peacefully. Edward seemed conflicted, as though he wanted to apologize for being rude to them, but he wanted them to apologize for neglecting their family. When the conversation did restart, it wasn't about their family issues.

"Bella, which city was your favorite that you visited?" asked Carlisle curiously. I wasn't sure if he was being genuine or not, but I answered the question honestly anyway.

"I loved Vienna, but Athens and Paris also had their charm," I replied coolly as Edward smiled at me. "What was your favorite city Edward?"

"I loved Paris," he answered happily and he shoved a crouton into his mouth and smiled widely.

Esme started to tell us about her favorite things in Paris, including her favorite art works in certain museums. I was so focused on our conversation, that I hadn't noticed Edward and Carlisle talking together, their voices lowered. I tried my best to ignore them for a few moments, but when Edward raised his hands in frustration, both Esme and I became distracted. "What's wrong?" asked Esme shyly.

"Dad just disapproves of some of the choices I've made in my life, the usual shit." Edward ran his hands through his hair and before Esme had a chance to answer, the waiter arrived with our lunch. We ate in complete silence, although I often felt Edward's hand on my thigh, most likely in an effort to calm himself.

"When did you ever care what your father thought?"

**EPOV**

Lunch was uncomfortable, at best. I tried to discuss my issues with my parents, but as per usual, they didn't want to hear it. I was beyond caring about it though, but I was concerned about Alice, who was all alone in Boston ninety percent of the time. It was no wonder that she spent hours on end talking to Jasper on the phone. I was looking forward to her move to New York in a few months because it would be easier for me to keep an eye on her. Who knows what kind of trouble she could get to in Boston by herself.

When everyone had finished their lunch, Esme ordered a round of coffee for us all, trying to prolong the misery. Bella looked out of sorts and was probably eager to leave, but I wasn't through with the family yet. "I think I'm going home with Bella for Thanksgiving," I said to my parents as they seemed interested for once.

"It will be nice to have her with us," said Esme sweetly as he poured some sweetener into her coffee.

"No mom, I'm going home to Forks with Bella," I corrected her. Bella and I had only discussed it casually, but I wanted to go. It was over two months away, so it's not like we had to set anything in stone today. I was also curious to know their reaction.

"Edward, it would be nice for you to spend some time with your family," said Carlisle curtly, as I glared at him.

"I've been thinking that exact same thing about you for nineteen years dad."

"Edward, I understand. You don't have to keep pushing this shit down my throat. I've disappointed you, I let you down, I was a shitty father. Does that make you feel better? Today was supposed to be a casual lunch where we met your friend, not one where we work through every single one of our issues," stammered Carlisle in frustration.

"She's not my friend dad. She's my girlfriend and you better get used to it, because I would choose her over you in a heartbeat," I spat out angrily. Esme and Bella both looked at me a little shocked, but I didn't regret the words I had spoken. I would always choose Bella over my distant and emotionally crippled parents.

"We would never let it come to that Edward," sighed Esme, clearly dejected that I preferred my girlfriend of three months over my parents.

"Here's what is going to happen," yelled out Carlisle, a little too loudly. Some of the other patrons in the restaurant turned to look at us with concern, but he ignored them and continued talking. "You and Emmett are coming home next weekend. Your mother and I will be home, as will Alice, and we will discuss this as a family." Esme nodded her head in agreement at this comment, but I didn't want to leave Bella alone for the weekend.

"It's fine Edward," she said sensing my concern. "I'll spend it with Rosalie and Jasper. I'm sure we can exchange stories about your parents," she explained with a laugh."I also need to make it over to the Met for an exhibit that I need to see for my Art Appreciation class, and maybe we can get Jasper drunk enough to give him a manicure."

"Fine, I'll go. But you need to call Emmett up and invite him yourselves. He's been dealing with your disappearances longer than I have and if he says he's not going, then I'm not going either." I was forceful and direct with my parents and once they finally relented to my terms, Bella and I stood so that we could leave. Carlisle extended his hand to her and thanked her for joining us. In a completely shocking move, Esme actually gave Bella a gentle hug, which surprised all of us. I don't even recall her hugging Rosalie or Jasper and they had been a part of our lives for years.

"Bella, did you hurt yourself?" asked Esme as she noticed Bella's bandage on her hip. I was hoping this wouldn't get mentioned today, then again, I had been hoping to spend the entire day making love to Bella and that didn't happen either.

"Oh no, I just… I turned nineteen yesterday and celebrated by getting a tattoo." Bella was so fierce in her words that Esme simply smiled back at her.

"Happy Birthday Bella," she replied genuinely. Carlisle reached up and patted me on my right shoulder and I instantly cringed because that hurt like hell. "Are you okay Edward?"

Carlisle reached up again and ran his hand over the top of my shirt, noticing the bandage underneath it. "Bella is not the only one who got a tattoo Esme," said Carlisle, sounding disappointed. Esme didn't seem to care though.

"We got the same tattoo. I can't put a wedding ring on her finger yet, so we got tattoos. Happy now?" I asked Carlisle as he signed the receipt for lunch and charged the lunch to his room. Bella looked at me in complete disbelief, because I had just outed not only our matching tattoos but the intensity of our relationship.

"We can discuss this next weekend, be there before dinner time on Friday," said Carlisle as he led Esme from the restaurant, his hand on the small of her back. Bella and I followed, but headed straight to the front door, where I handed our valet stub to the attendant and we waited patiently, but in silence. In fact, we didn't speak until we were back at Bella's apartment. Rosalie had left a note on the kitchen counter saying she was at the library for a few hours working on a project, but that we were all supposed to meet at eight at my place to go to a party.

"I'm not really up for a party," I said casually as Bella turned around and wrapped her arms around my waist.

"Actually Edward Cullen, I think a party would be a great way to take your mind off of the stress that is Esme and Carlisle. Your mom actually seemed to like me a bit," Bella remarked, as she tried to throw a positive spin on the painful events of the afternoon. I looked at the clock on the microwave and I noticed it was almost five.

"Fine, I'll go to this party but only if you go into your room, get naked and lie on the bed and wait for me," I answered with a sly grin. Bella smiled and nodded her head as she disappeared into her bedroom. I grabbed my cell phone from my pocket and called Jasper, who assured me he would have some booze available for me and Bella tonight. I wasn't sure where this party was, but I was going to make sure Bella stayed at my place tonight, and getting her drunk with me was a good sign.

When I walked into the bedroom, Bella had complied and was lying in all of her naked glory on her bed, waiting for me. "How's Jasper?" she asked, not even the slight bit concerned with her nudity.

"He's fine. I called to make sure he could get some booze for us tonight," I replied casually as I slipped out my clothes and crawled onto bed between her legs. "I figured we both need a night to get fucked up." Bella nodded her head slowly as I leaned forward and kissed her sweet lips.

"and an afternoon to get fucked?" said Bella seductively as l kissed my way down to her bare breasts, licking her nipples eagerly. I nodded in response to her question and my hands reached up and immediately grasped her breasts, massaging them firmly. I was about to take my frustrations out on my gorgeous girlfriend, but thankfully she was ready and willing, I thought to myself as I ran one finger the length of her slit and discovered how wet she was.

"Hands and knees Bella… now," I instructed her as she looked at me with desire and did just as I requested. I wasn't feeling up to hours of foreplay after the afternoon we had, so as she moved into position, I grabbed a condom from her nightstand and slipped it on. I stopped for a moment, enjoying the display spread in front of me before I rammed my cock deep inside of her. Bella groaned my name out loudly and I continued to have my way with her, deeper and faster with each movement.

I felt like shit for not treating her the way she should be treated, which was like an angel. I should have been taking my time with her, adoring every inch of her, but instead I was completely overwhelmed with anger and simply fucked her as hard as I could. Sweat was pouring down my forehead, some drops even landing on her back, as I tightened my grip on her hips, desperate for release.

"Play with yourself Bella, cum for me," I pleaded with her as her moans increased a moment later, signaling that she was in fact doing as I had asked. That in itself was a huge turn on for me, and I came deep inside of her only minutes later. I was so preoccupied with my own pleasure that I hadn't even noticed if she had come as well. Bella laid down face first on the bed for a moment, before rolling on to her side. I lay beside her and kissed her gently.

"I'm sorry," I said remorsefully as she raised an eye brow in concern.

"Sorry for what?"

"For fucking you like that. We've never done it like that before, with everything so hurried, and I didn't even care if you got off. It was basically anger sex and I wasn't even angry at you," I said in frustration. Bella's hand reached up and she cupped my cheek gently and kissed me lightly on the lips before resting her head against my chest.

"I loved it Edward. Sometimes you shouldn't over analyze everything. Did you ever think I wanted you to take me and fuck me like a whore?" Her words left me open mouthed and shocked. No, I had never thought of that because I never ever saw Bella like that. She was never a whore.

"No."

"Edward, look at me," she said as she moved my face towards her with her tiny hand. "I love you. What we do in the confines of our bedroom does not define who we are. If you want to treat me like a whore in the bedroom, I'd do it for you." My eyes were suddenly a lit of the possibilities that this revelation meant for me. "But only for you Edward. I'm only your whore." She added playfully. I smiled brightly at her and kissed her lips.

"I don't want to go to the party now," I added with a laugh as Bella kissed my chest and ran her fingers through my hair.

"Sorry master. I want to go. I have the perfect outfit, courtesy of your sister." Bella stood from the bed and walked towards her closet, where she grabbed a tiny red strapless dress. My mouth dropped open at the thought of Bella in that dress.

"Okay, we're going, but you can't leave my side all night."


	39. Angerville to Fighttown

**A/N: Two chapters of American Girl in one day… you lucky buggars! LOL This chapter is for all my lovely readers that love possesiveward... if that even makes sense. LOL**

**I'm moving to Canada soon, but if anyone wants to move to angerville, or its neighbor fighttown, just let me know!**

**I don't own twilight, but I do own a gigantic tape measure.**

**BPOV**

Edward's eyes were instantly glue to my breasts the moment I put the red dress on that Alice had purchased for me. When she forced me to get it, I never thought there would be anywhere that I would get to wear it, but after today, I felt the need to feel a little sexy. It was candy apple red and thankfully wasn't too short. In fact, it went to just above my knee and flared out a bit at the ends, making it seem longer than it was. Edward was a big fan of the dress though.

"I'm not sure about this anymore," he said with a smile as we walked into his apartment so that he could get changed. Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper were already there, and several drinks in from the look of things.

"Holy shit Bella, you look good," said Emmett as Rosalie smacked up him upside the back of the head. "Oh, whatever Rosie, you think she looks good. Hell, if this was last weekend, your tongue would probably be down her throat again." I immediately turned several different shades of red and followed Edward into his room to help him pick something to wear. I was partial to a pair of black jeans with a white dress shirt and a black tie, which reminded me of some of the things he would wear in Europe. He finally relented after I begged for several minutes, but I had to promise to go without panties for the rest of the night. Once I pulled them off, Edward shoved them into his pants pocket, which confused the hell out of me.

"So, where's this party?" asked Emmett once we had walked into the room and everyone was fully dressed. Edward poured us each a shot of something clear and handed it to me, taking it eagerly as I listened to Jasper.

"It's up on the upper east side. Some swanky kids I met in one of my design classes are throwing it. Well, their friend is throwing it, but who cares. We were invited, so we're going," he said casually as he finished off a beer and put the empty bottle on the coffee table. I glanced up at the clock and it was now almost nine thirty. "I think we should get the hell out of dodge now. Traffic will probably suck getting up there."

Edward handed me my purse and we followed everyone from the apartment, Japer locking the door as we left. We headed down to Bleeker, where Edward quickly hailed a cab, which was a minivan. As we all stepped in, I was suddenly very excited. "Wouldn't it rock if this was the Cash Cab," I said to everyone else, who all looked confused.

"Sorry hon, I'm not him," said the Italian driver who Jasper gave the address to.

"What the hell is a Cash Cab?" asked Rosalie in confusion as Emmett pulled her closer to him on the backseat.

"It's a game show. Here in New York there is one cab that drives around and it's a minivan. If you get in, and it's the Cash Cab, you answer trivia questions to win money. Just a few days ago I saw three guys win like thirty six hundred bucks," I said happily as they all looked at me incredulously. "Okay, so I'm sure that's couch change for all you rich snobs, but for the little girl from Forks, that's big money." Everyone laughed at my expense and Edward pulled me close to him as we drove towards the other side of town.

It was almost half an hour later when we finally arrived and Jasper graciously helped Rosalie and I from the cab, while Emmett paid. I immediately found myself pulling my skirt down a bit, and then tugging my top back up. I was fidgeting because I was nervous. "You look beautiful, don't worry," said Edward as he noticed my reluctance. Perhaps I just had a feeling this night was going to be as bad as lunch today. Edward wrapped his arm around my waist and we walked into the small house behind Jasper, who had already recognized several of the other people in attendance. They were playing the latest Eminem release, as we wandered through the room aimlessly. As Jasper mingled with everyone, the rest of us found some chairs in a far corner and sat together chatting happily about random shit.

"Mom and Dad called me today," sighed Emmett as Rosalie moved herself slightly on his lap where she had chose to sit down. "They want us to go home next weekend. Did they mention this to you at lunch?" he asked Edward curiously as Edward nodded his head.

"Yeah, we sort of got into a little fight about their absence when we were younger, and they want to talk to all three of us about it. Honestly, I don't think they realize how much it has affected us because they were never around," Edward admitted as Emmett glared at him for a moment. "I told them I wasn't going if you weren't."

"I'm going. So it looks like you girls are alone next weekend," laughed Emmett, no doubt imagining Rosalie and I partaking in some sort of naked pillow fights. Every time someone mentions a slumber party, Emmett always laughs that all girls do is talk about giving guys head and then they enjoy some lingerie clad pillow fights, where all the participants end up naked. Poor misguided Emmett.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we can find something to occupy ourselves with, right Bella," teased Rosalie with a wink as I dipped my finger into my mouth and sucked on it for a moment.

"Most definitely Miss Rosalie," I replied as Edward scooped me up from my chair and sat me on his lap, most likely to hide the erection I could feel against my ass. "Perhaps I'll have to show you some of the things I bought at Agent Provocateur."

"Over my dead body," snapped Edward, as though he was upset. I rubbed my hand up and down his chest, trying to soothe him.

"You can show me," laughed Emmett as Edward punched him on the shoulder.

"Calm down, both of you. Bella and I are kidding. If anything we'll do homework, laundry and force Jasper to come over to get drunk with us and Garrett," replied Rosalie happily. We continued our conversations for a little while longer, until Jasper came back to join us.

"There's a keg in the kitchen if any of you are interested," he said casually as he sat down in the seat I had occupied before Edward lifted me to his lap. I immediately stood, and went towards the kitchen to get both me and Rosalie a beer. I had one shot before we had left the apartment, but beer was definitely what I was craving tonight. As I grabbed a red cup and waited in line, I suddenly felt a hand on my lower back, and quickly assumed it was Edward.

"Are you sure you don't want to go lower?" I asked as I turned around, mortified to find Jacob standing there.

"Why yes I would. Want to go find somewhere quieter?" he whispered into my ear as I pushed him away from me.

"I thought you were Edward, so you can leave now," I snapped angrily at him as I turned back around and handed my cup to the frat boy pouring drinks.

"Well, since he's not here, maybe now we can actually have a conversation," said Jacob forcefully as he grabbed my hand in his after the frat boy handed me the beer. Jacob pulled me to the other side of the kitchen and down a small corridor where random people appeared to be playing a very bad game of quarters. We were outside on the back patio before I even had a chance to push myself away from him.

"You have two minute Jacob, and then I'm going back into the house with Edward," I said in frustration as he let go of my hand and I sat on the picnic table on the deck.

"I'm sorry, again, for losing touch with you back in Forks. Trust me; if I could go back in time, I would Bella. Honestly. I'm not here to fuck up your relationship with Edward either, I didn't know you'd be here tonight," said Jacob as forcefully as he could, trying to convince me of his words. I wasn't excited to be sitting back here with him, and the moment Edward noticed I was gone, I knew all hell would break loose, but I wanted to hear him out, even if I didn't believe him.

"Keep going," I urged him.

"Your mom was giving me very different signals about you and me, which is why I came to your place a few weeks ago. I'm sorry if I came off as some aggressive asshole, because I really haven't changed that much since we were friends, and I wasn't that way. I'm not that way," he said succinctly. For a few moments, I saw a flicker of my friend from Forks, not the jerk I had been dealing with recently.

"How about you just don't listen to my mother anymore?" I recommended as leaned back onto my palms, still sitting on the top of the picnic table.

"I think that's a great idea. She actually called me last week to see how things were going. Did you tell her you and Edward got back together? You did get back together right?" he asked curiously, albeit a little hopeful.

"Yeah, we're back together," I replied as I rubbed my hip as a reminder of who I truly loved more than anything.

"What's with the hip?"

"Don't tell Renee or Charlie, but I got a tattoo yesterday for my nineteenth birthday," I said eagerly. I was still pretty excited about the entire thing, especially its meaning, but Jacob didn't need to know the specifics, and I would tell my parents eventually.

"That's very rebellious of you, Bella. Is there an unplanned pregnancy in the future too," laughed Jacob at my expense.

"I'm not rebelling Jacob. I've wanted one for years, so Edward and I went yesterday to get them. He got it for me as birthday gift." I realized after I said it, that I probably shouldn't have said anything at all about Edward's but I didn't care.

"Edward got one too?" I simply nodded and didn't reveal any other details. "Can I see it?" asked Jacob enthusiastically as I continued to rub it, easing a bit of the pain. There was no way I could show it to him without lifting up the bottom of my dress completely, and that wasn't going to happen since Edward had my panties in his pocket.

"No way in hell," responded Edward who was walking out the back door towards us. I hopped from the table and immediately stepped between them. Jacob was relaxed, but Edward was angry and I didn't want to deal with a fight tonight. "I thought I told you before to stay away from her."

"Dude, we were just talking. I already know she's your girl, so relax. Fuck, you've already got your name or whatever tattoo all over her. 'Property of Edward' right?" replied Jacob as Edward continued to move closer to him. "Although, I'm shocked you left her alone at this party. She's been away from you for five minutes and anything could have happened to her. You're not doing a good job protecting her." Jacob had a death wish apparently, because he was pissing off Edward and if he kept it up, I wouldn't be able to protect either of them.

"First of all, don't call me dude. My name is Edward. Secondly, I'm not going to take advice from a guy who ditched the best girl in the world for three years. I thank god everyday you were a complete fucking moron and ignored her, because she's mine now and she'll never be anyone else's. You're the one who fucked up Jacob Black." I stepped back from Jacob for a moment and he was fuming, more than Edward was. Before I had a chance to say anything, Jacob's fist was raised and he was reaching out for Edward. I ran into the house and found Emmett, pulling him out to the backyard, where Jacob and Edward were now fighting down on the lawn.

**EPOV**

When Bella seemed to be taking a long time to get her beer, I headed into the kitchen and found nothing. "Hey, have you seen a brunette in a red dress?" I asked the guy handing out the drinks at the keg.

"Yeah, she headed out back with some tall Indian looking guy," he remarked casually as he poured another drink. There was only one Indian looking guy that I knew of, and I was praying to god that he wasn't with Bella. As I got to the end of the hallway, I noticed a door leading out to the patio, and there was Jacob and Bella talking outside. I stopped before I stepped out the door, listening to part of their conversation.

"That's very rebellious of you, Bella. Is there an unplanned pregnancy in the future too," I heard Jacob say as he started to laugh at her. I felt like ringing his neck just for being in the same space as her, even though he was on the opposite side of the deck.

"I'm not rebelling Jacob. I've wanted one for years, so Edward and I went yesterday to get them. He got it for me as birthday gift." I could hear the happiness in Bella's voice as she spoke, and I knew she wasn't regretting anything about yesterday, especially me.

"Edward got one too? Can I see it?" Well if that wasn't a sign, I wasn't sure what was. There was no way Bella would show him anything, let alone her tattoo, but I was livid he even asked, because he knew where it was. Hell, she had been rubbing her hip the whole time I had been watching.

"No way in hell," I yelled at Jacob as I walked out the door and onto the porch, my entire body shaking in fury. Bella tried to jump in front of us to protect both of us, knowing full well I would never touch him with her between us. "I thought I told you before to stay away from her."

"Dude, we were just talking. I already know she's your girl, so relax. Fuck, you've already got your name or whatever tattoo all over her. 'Property of Edward' right?" replied Jacob as I stepped closer to him, imaging my right hand punching his cheek again. "Although, I'm shocked you left her alone at this party. She's been away from you for five minutes and anything could have happened to her. You're not doing a good job protecting her."

"First of all, don't call me dude. My name is Edward. Secondly, I'm not going to take advice from a guy who ditched the best girl in the world for three years. I thank god everyday you were a complete fucking moron and ignored her, because she's mine now and she'll never be anyone else's. You're the one who fucked up Jacob Black." I watched intently as Bella backed away from Jacob, who now looked as livid as I felt. I looked down and immediately saw Jacob raise his fist towards me, but I managed to duck out of the way. Had Bella not moved, she would have been in the line of Jacob's punch and that set me off. I pushed Jacob down the two steps and onto the lawn. He never fell though, just stumbled backwards and caught himself before landing on the ground. I reached forward and grabbed the collar of his shirt in my hands tightly, pulling his face towards mine. "Leave her the fuck alone."

I released my grip on his shirt and pushed him backwards, but apparently he was a relentless idiot, and he came back to punch me again. I caught a quick hit to the stomach before my hand reached up and hit his jaw firmly. I felt Emmett's arms around me a second later, trying to pull me away from Jacob, but the rage was building in me further. Jasper and some unknown guy were wrapped around Jacob, pulling him back towards the deck, where I noticed Bella was standing with Rosalie, their arms wrapped around each other. Bella looked at both of us in complete shock. Jacob headed back up the stairs and across the deck, stopping briefly to say something to her, but by the time I got up there, he had already slipped back into the house.

"I think we've overstayed our welcome," laughed Emmett as he pulled me back down the steps and out the side entrance of the backyard. We were now on some side street, with Rosalie, Jasper and Bella following close behind us. Bella was wrapped in Jasper's long sleeved plaid shirt to keep her warm, but Emmett wouldn't let me go to her yet. He wouldn't let go of me. "Relax first," he kept whispering to me as we walked back to the main street and he flagged down a cab, another minivan.

"I don't suppose this is the cash cab is it?" I asked curiously once we were all seated. Everyone laughed but Bella, and sadly, it still wasn't the cash cab. We were back at our apartment a lot quicker than I thought we would be and as soon as we walked in the door, Rosalie took Bella into the Emmett's room and locked the door behind them.

"Okay, so are we signing up for anger management classes in the morning?" asked Jasper as he tried to break the tension in the room. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and quickly drank the entire thing, not really paying attention to anyone else.

"What do you think they are doing?" I asked Emmett and Jasper as we all sat down in the living room, practically staring at Emmett's bedroom door.

"Probably just talking, but I'm hoping for a lingerie pillow fight," laughed Emmett as Jasper threw a pillow at his head, narrowly missing him.

"Do you think she's pissed? It's not like I haven't been jealous possessive Edward around her before; hell it was only a few weeks ago that I punched Jacob in the hallway. She didn't care then," I said casually, even though I was actually worried.

"Maybe she's just scared. What were they talking about when you interrupted them? asked Jasper curiously as he pulled his shoes off and threw them towards the front door.

"Jake asked to see Bella's tattoo," I admitted ruefully. "Then he accused me of basically stamping her as my property because she got it." Emmett looked up at me in complete shock.

"She has a tattoo? Fuck, that's hot. Can I see it?" asked Emmett eagerly as I stared him down angrily.

"No, you can't see it shithead. We both got them. Hers is on her hip and mine is on my shoulder." Emmett started to talk to me about the pain we both went through while getting the tattoos, effectively turning Jasper off from ever getting one, and before we knew it, it was almost two in the morning. I gave up and headed to bed, with Jasper deciding to do the same.

"Well, I'm gonna go bust them up. I need to my beauty sleep," joked Emmett as he knocked hesitantly on the door and Rosalie opened it up. I looked back, but I couldn't see Bella in the room, so I closed my door behind me, leaving it unlocked as I undressed to climb into bed.

It was almost an hour later when I felt my bed shift, waking me from my restless slumber. "Bella?" I called out quietly.

"Yeah, go back to sleep Edward," she said anxiously. I could tell her voice was sore, but I didn't want to push her.

"I love you," I said as I put my head back down on my pillow and curled up under the covers. I felt her body slide down the mattress, and she slipped beneath the sheets, our backs against one another. We'd never slept like this, away from each other just seemed unnatural to me.

"I love you too," said Bella quietly. I tried to sleep, but sleeping beside her, but away from her was disconcerting and caused me to worry more than any words possibly could. I was wake all night, until I heard Emmett and Jasper fighting over Rock Band around ten, in the living room. Bella was fast asleep, so I stepped from the room quietly and joined them, immediately making a huge pot of coffee.

"So, did you guys talk?" asked Jasper when I had finished preparing the coffee and he had won the chance to play guitar after a game of rock, paper, scissors with Em.

"Nope. Everything has been so fucked up lately. We got tattoos and met mom and dad on Friday. Then yesterday, I practically told them all that I wanted to marry her and I would chose her over them in a heartbeat, only to run into Jake and fight with him. It's no wonder we didn't talk," I replied as Rosalie stepped from Emmett's room.

"Is she okay?" I asked desperately while Rosalie simply grabbed a coffee mug and held it out to me. "It's still brewing."

"She doesn't understand your anger or your jealousy," sighed Rosalie as she sat down on a stool and put her head in her hands, clearly nursing a headache or lack of sleep. Once the coffee was finished, I poured Rose and I each a mug, and we sat quietly in the living room as we watched Jas and Em play video games. It was almost half an hour later when Bella walked out of my room, completely dressed and clutching her overnight bag.

"Can you give me a ride home?" she asked as she looked at me. I nodded my head, eager to be alone with her. "We can talk when we get back to my place."

_Oh shit… we need to talk. Christ on a Cracker._

**A/N: The talk between Bella and Edward, as well as the entire Cullen clan will happen next chappie.**


	40. Fighttown to Boston to New York

**A/N: This chapter is pretty long. I figured I owed it to you guys since I hadn't updated in a few days. Blame the move. There's only eight days till I fly out of Vegas back to Toronto, but I am really trying to have this story done by then. My overall plans keep changing; I'm so indecisive these days.**

**Anyways, thanks to all the lovely readers and reviewers for their constant support. I've noticed a lot of new story alerts and author alerts, so I thank each and every one of you.**

**kaiserin1792 – Welcome to the story. Thanks for all the awesome reviews!**

**I don't own twilight, but I do have a newfound appreciation for sleep.**

**BPOV**

After tonight, this jealousy shit was getting really tired. What else did I need to do to prove to him that I wasn't interested in anyone else and that I wanted only him? I thought we had worked through this shit in Europe, and I was certain the matching tattoos were a big fucking giveaway, but apparently not to Edward.

As we walked up the stairs to my apartment, I heard Edward walking slowly behind me, as though he was heading to slaughter and the thought to me was completely laughable. "Get comfy," I said as we stepped into my apartment and he sat down on the couch, looking nervous as hell. I had spent most of the night with Rosalie, trying to wrap my head around everything, which was a big help considering she had more insight into him since she had known him for years.

"You need to realize that relationships and love are completely foreign to Edward. Emmett was very similar to him when we started dating, I think it's just the way their parents brought them up," she explained wisely at around two in the morning, just before Emmett interrupted us to go to bed. I fixed myself a cup of tea as Edward sat still on the couch, not even looking up to see me. I had him scared, and I felt horrible for that.

"Do you want something to drink baby?" I asked, trying to sound as sweet as possible. He simply shook his head and waited patiently for me. When I sat down on the couch, Edward took my free hand in his and immediately began to apologize, until I stopped him. "You need to relax Edward."

"It's a little hard when your girlfriend says 'she needs to talk'" he replied anxiously as I noticed him fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

"I need you to understand something, and you better be listening to me because I don't want to have to repeat it. I am in love with you, no one else. I don't even think of Jacob like that. He was apologizing to me for how he treated me back in Forks, and a few weeks ago when he came to my apartment," I explained as Edward opened his mouth, only to be met by my fingers closing it on him. "I'm talking remember? You need to stop being jealous of every single guy that talks to me. If anything, they are jealous of you because you have me."

I let out a deep breath I didn't know I was holding and looked over at him as he began to speak. "I'm sorry I over reacted. Let's just say that Jacob brings out the worst in me. I will do my best to think before I act in the future, alright?" I nodded my head in agreement as he continued, but I wasn't ready to let him off the hook so easily.

"I tend to believe that you don't trust me, or my love for you, when you react the way you do. We were just talking." I explained, though Edward didn't look placated by my words.

"Yeah, well the moment he asked to see your tattoo just amplified my reactions. Yes, I was being a possessive asshole, but I don't know what you two shared back in Forks. I just know that I don't want you to leave me again." Edward sounded downright depressed as he spoke these words, reminding me yet again of the heartache he suffered while we were apart.

"I would never have shown it to him. In my opinion, it's something special for just you and I, and I want to keep it that way," I remarked forcefully as I rubbed my sore hip again, hoping to ease a bit of the pain. "We weren't anything other than friends back in Forks. Like he explained tonight, my mother was the one making everything worse by telling him I was interested. She and I need to have a nice long chat, or screaming match, take your pick."

"My reaction though was also a response to him raising his fists at me. If you hadn't moved, he would have hit you Bella, and I know you don't think that's an excuse, but I don't think I could handle it if something happened to you."

"Okay, I can understand that, but can we just be a little more honest and open with one another, so that this doesn't happen again?" I asked anxiously as he smiled.

"Well then don't go off and talk to Rosalie for four hours. We could have straightened this out last night and I wouldn't be well on my way to an ulcer," he said with a laugh as he kissed me gently. "I promise to trust you Bella."

"Good, cause I trust you with everything Edward. Now, when are you leaving for Boston?" I asked curiously as he frowned again and started to explain how he didn't want to go home for the inevitable confrontation with his parents. "Think positive, maybe they'll get it over the moment you walk in the door and you can come straight back to New York on the next train?" We ended up talking for the next half hour about how much he dreaded heading home, even though he had the support of Emmett and Alice before I glanced at the clock and realized I had a shit load of work to do. Thankfully Rosalie came home minutes later and Edward decided to leave, promising to call me later in the evening. We shared a quick kiss and I watched as he walked from my room and down the hallway.

"Everything go well?" asked Rosalie curiously as I nodded my head.

"I guess time will tell if he can manage to reign in his jealousy right?" I explained as she smiled at me. "So, let's go see Garrett and make plans for next weekend. I was thinking we could drink ourselves silly and force Jasper to join us?"

"I'm game, let's go."

**EPOV**

The train ride to Boston was excruciating. I read one of my books for class while Emmett bitched and moaned about missing the party Garrett, Rosalie and Jasper were having with Bella. He seemed to think it was going to be some crazy all campus bash, but from what Bella had told me, they were planning to sit around and drink themselves stupid while playing card games and possibly dressing Jasper in drag if he passed out. That I would like to see.

"So, did you lock Bella in her room this weekend so that nothing funny happens?" joked Emmett as I threw my empty soda can at him.

"No. I'm trying to work on my trust issues jackass. Anyways, she's hanging out with Rosie all weekend, how much trouble can she really get into?" I asked as Emmett laughed heavily for a few minutes.

"Good luck with the trust thing. It's hard when your girlfriend is as hot as ours are, trust me dude, I've been there," explained Emmett with a smile as he reached for his iPod in his backpack. "Oh, and just so you know, every single thing that ever got me into trouble in school was because of Rosalie, so you're up shit creek if you think they are going to behave themselves." As I half listened to Emmett babble on about breaking into someone's backyard to go skinny dipping in their pool, I decided not to let Rosalie's troublesome nature bother me. Bella was going to be fine, wasn't she?

When we finally arrived at the train station, we had a driver waiting to pick us up, which both Emmett and I frowned at. We both had issues about our parents never being around, and they couldn't even be bothered to come and get us at the train station, when they had practically forced us to come home for the weekend. This trip was definitely not off to a good start. I sat in the back of the town car and drowned out my thoughts with the music from my iPod as we drove towards the house. I hadn't realized I had fallen asleep until Emmett punched me, a little too hard I might add, as we pulled up the driveway.

"Get up dude," he said to me after the punch, which left me rubbing my shoulder to ease the pain. The house was eerily quiet as we walked in, until we heard Alice yelling about something upstairs. We followed the sound of the noise, only to find her sitting cross legged on her bed, talking to someone on the phone.

"Seriously, I have to reschedule to next weekend. Armando always has an opening for me, so make it happen," she yelled to whomever she was talking to. Emmett and I stuck our heads in her open doorway and she waved eagerly at us. "Sorry Pierre, I got to go. Noon next Saturday." She promptly hung up the phone, not even waiting for him to say goodbye and ensconced us into a huge hug.

"Looking good baby sister," said Emmett as he mussed up her hair, which just pissed her off.

"So, I hear I have you to thank for this upcoming disaster," laughed Alice as she looked directly at me and scowled.

"Whatever Alice. This was inevitable. Wouldn't you prefer they found out how shitty they were now instead of on their deathbeds?" I asked with a grim laugh as Alice continued to glare me. As we wandered out into the hallway, I noticed Mom and Dad walking through the front door looking frustrated and talking quietly to one another. All three of us went down to the main floor and into the kitchen to find something to eat, but were ushered into the dining room by my mother instead.

"We're all going to eat together, as a family, "she emphasized the word 'family' and it made me laugh, which resulted in an angry glare from her. As Esme and Carlisle took their seats the end of our oversized table, Emmett, Alice and I all decided to sit beside each other. It wouldn't be fair for one of us to sit on the far side of the table by themselves, plus this way we all looked like we were in agreement with one another, even if we might not be. I knew Emmett and I were on the same page regarding our parent's lackluster parenting skills, but I wasn't sure about Alice.

"How was the train ride?" asked Carlisle tensely as he glanced between Emmett and I.

"It was fine. We studied," I lied casually as Emmett grinned at me and nodded his head. Vita, our housekeeper came out from the kitchen moments later with garden salads for all of us, and I could tell everyone was relieved to have something to occupy our time, other than the awkward conversation. As I had just taken a quick bite of my salad, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket and looked down at a text message from Bella.

_If I go to jail, you will bail me out right? –B_

I laughed out of utter confusion for a moment and showed the message to Emmett who laughed right along with me. He mouthed the word 'Rosalie' to me, causing more laughter and a scowl from my parents. I typed back a quick _yes_ and shoved the phone back in my pocket.

"Do you think we can manage one dinner without our cell phones?" asked my father as I nodded my head and went back to my salad, worried and confused about both Bella and Rosalie.

**BPOV**

When I finished class on Friday afternoon, I wandered into my apartment and found Rosalie already dressed and ready for a night out. "Where the hell are we going?" I inquired as I glanced at Rosalie in a tight red halter top and miniscule jean shorts.

"We're going to Garrett's, but who knows what will happen after that, you do have bail money right?" she laughed as I immediately tensed up. Of course I didn't have bail money, I thought to myself. I barely had enough for lunch some days.

"Are we going to get arrested for suspicion of prostitution, cause that's the only thing I think of when I see your outfit," I replied sarcastically as I giggled and she glared at me. "I promised Edward no funny business. I think anything necessitating bail money is something I should steer clear of."

"You're no fun Bella Swan," Rosalie chuckled as she reached into the fridge for a beer, which Emmett had generously stocked for us before he left for Boston. "Jasper said he'd be here at six after his last class. So we need to order up some Thai for dinner and you need to get dressed into something party appropriate." I nodded my head in acknowledgement and grabbed a menu from the fridge, tossing it in Rosalie's direction.

"You call for dinner; I'm going to get dressed." I instructed as I marched into my room with my laptop and book bag, tossing them both onto my desk, before I started to rummage through my closet for something to wear. Unfortunately, even though it was late September, we were suffering through a fricking heat wave, so I grabbed my white skirt I had picked up in Amsterdam and tossed on a blue tank top. I looked good enough, but nothing flashy like Rosalie.

Just past six o'clock, Jasper knocked on our door clutching the bags from the Thai restaurant. "I found him in the lobby all confused, so I paid for dinner and here I am," he said with a big smile as we welcomed him in and Rosalie went to get Garrett to join us for dinner. The conversation seemed effortless and I was pleased to have made such great friends, which was something I hadn't really expected when I came to college.

"So, what should we do tonight?" asked Jasper anxiously as he took a bite of some spicy noodles I had refused to try.

"I want to go dancing," Rosalie blurted out, which Jasper frowned at. "What?"

"I promised Emmett and Edward to keep an eye on you two. They, and I actually mean Emmett, thinks that Rosalie here will be starting some sort of ruckus, so I had to agree to watch out for you two," Jasper admitted nervously as Rosalie and I both glared at him.

"So, our boyfriends have suckered you into babysitting duty?" I asked incredulously as he nodded his head. "Did they pay you anything? I mean, babysitters must make like ten bucks an hour right?" Jasper suddenly looked very apologetic. He was getting something out of this deal.

"They promised to stop being so hard on me about Alice and I," he claimed. Damn, he was such a sucker for that girl and I knew it bothered him to no end that they didn't like the fact that he was dating their baby sister, but I didn't think he would do this in order to win their approval.

"Fine. Rosalie and I will be on our best behavior. I think we should see if there are any parties going on around the building," I suggested as Rosalie winked at me.

"I have a suggestion, which is both safe and fun," laughed Garrett as he took a drink of his Appletini and smiled at all of us. "There is this awesome gay club down on Fulton called 'The Lab'. I know the bouncer, so we can totally get in, and then Jasper doesn't have to worry about you two getting picked up by men, since they won't give two shits if you are there." Rosalie and I looked at each other and nodded happily because it sounded like the perfect solution.

"So the only one who should have trouble is Jasper, who will probably be beating them off with a stick, pun intended Jaz," laughed Rosalie heavily as he started to tense up. He didn't want to go, but now that I knew he was technically babysitting Rosalie and me, I didn't care, he was coming.

"Then it's settled" said Garrett enthusiastically." We'll leave around ten, so don't get too drunk before then. Sven, the bouncer, won't let you in if you're completely wasted. Oh and Rosalie, behave yourself, they have exotic dancers there, and you can't bounce quarters off their abs."

After dinner was finished, Jasper, Rosalie and I got comfortable on the couch, casually drinking the beer Emmett left for us and watching 'Pineapple Express', which apparently made Jasper homesick for weed. We talked about our plan for the evening and agreed to pretend that all three of us were a couple in order to keep away any and all suitors, which Jasper actually found pretty funny.

"Bella, do you have your bail money yet?" Rosalie asked with a wink as I grabbed my cell phone and immediately sent Edward a cryptic text.

_If I go to jail, you will bail me out right? –B_

It was only a few minutes later that he texted back, _yes_, and Rosalie laughed at me happily.

"That's good. I don't intend for us to get into trouble, but it seems to follow me around like Emmett with a hard on sometimes." Definite TMI.

**EPOV**

I never had much of a chance to think about the text message from Bella once our salad plates were removed. The awkward silence came immediately after Vita left the room, only to be filled by my father and his nonsensical conversation skills.

"So, Edward told us some stuff last weekend, and your mother and I were concerned… about everything," he started to say as Emmett interrupted him, being his usual blunt overbearing self.

"Edward told you guys that you sucked, and you didn't believe him right?" My mother nodded her head slightly as Emmett continued, much to my enjoyment. "As far as I am concerned, and I don't speak for Alice but I do know Edward and I are on the same page, yeah, you guys have been utter failures as parents. Sure, you gave us a roof over our heads and your money provided us with everything we ever could have wanted…" he explained as he was interrupted.

"Did you ever think that maybe we would give it all up to spend time with you?" shouted Alice in frustration as she grabbed my hand for support. I was glad to see she was on the same page as us. My father looked at Alice almost as shocked as I did.

"I'm sorry to hear this from all of you. Your mother and I did the best that we could," said my father, his head hung low, his chin practically pressed against his chest. I felt bad for him for a moment, because I knew neither him nor my mother had the best examples for proper parenting when they grew up, but I had thought that would have been incentive to do something different with their own children. "What do you want us to do?"

"First of all, you should _want_ to change, not make the changes because your children are forcing you," said Emmett forcefully as he stared at our father, not quite certain that his intentions were good. I don't think Em believed there would be a change, but he had lived with this a few years longer than I had, so I could easily see his reluctance to believe them.

"Your father and I have discussed nothing but this since our lunch with Edward and Bella last weekend. We are making the change both because we feel we have let you down, and because we want to be loving parents to you," explained Esme sweetly as she took a large gulp of her wine.

"You can't change what has already happened, but you can make changes for the future," I suggested calmly as I felt Alice squeeze my hand. "Maybe you should stop taking so many trips to foreign countries, and be around for the holidays. You could even call Emmett and me to make sure we haven't sold each other to mobsters for drug money." Apparently they didn't find that funny because my mother's eyes practically bugged out from her face. They probably would have if she hadn't had her eyes done a few years ago by the guy who also did her face lift.

"I can't always be around because of my work Edward," retorted my father angrily.

"Fine then, leave mom home then. She doesn't always have to go to Romania or Brazil with you every time you leave," screamed Alice heatedly. I looked over at my mom and she was now actually looking sweetly at Alice. Perhaps my mother hadn't realized how much her leaving had affected her only daughter.

"Alice, I'm sorry I wasn't here for you," said Esme quietly as Alice looked at her dumbstruck that she was finally getting an apology after seventeen years. "I'm sorry I wasn't here for any of you."

"It's not like we wanted you guys to drag us camping, fishing or to Disneyworld or anything like that, we just wanted you home," sighed Emmett as dad looked over at both of us with regret.

"I can't promise an overnight change, but we will try. I will book off Thanksgiving and Christmas from work so we can spend them together as a family," explained Carlisle as I immediately grew frustrated.

"I'm going home with Bella for Thanksgiving," I mentioned casually, reminding them of our conversation last weekend at the Waldorf. My parents both nodded their head in acknowledgment and apparent acceptance.

"That's fine. You'll miss the charades and Pictionary marathon your mother and I have planned," added Carlisle light heartedly. I think I even caught a small smile on his face, which was a rare occurrence.

"You're not serious are you? I wanted you around, not killing me with stupid games," stammered Alice as we all laughed at her response. "No, really. I don't do charades."

"Alice, relax. Your father and I haven't made any plans yet, and I doubt they would involve whatever the hell Pictionary is, so don't worry. I'm more a shopping and manicure kind of woman," giggled Esme as Alice gave her a wide smile.

"I've missed out on you buying me clothes and getting me manicures? Son of a bitch," exclaimed Alice as my father glared at her.

"Watch your mouth young lady," admonished Carlisle as Emmett and I both laughed, but Alice looked angry.

"Maybe we should start slowly. We've been cursing for years, so it might be hard to stop it right away," laughed Emmett as he glanced between my parents for confirmation, and they actually nodded in agreement. "Consider our swearing like your parenting. They both suck, but they will take a while to change." The conversation actually continued calmly for the rest of the meal. Vita brought out Roast Beef, which Emmett devoured quickly and requested seconds of, while Alice and Esme discussed the over abundance of purple in the fall fashion trends.

I was surprised when my father actually pulled me into a conversation about school and seemed interested. "So, do you get to play piano a lot or is it more theory and history right now?" I explained to him in detail about the different aspects of my course and how even though I didn't get to play as much as I would have liked, it was a great program nonetheless. Carlisle actually seemed proud of me, which was something I never once thought would happen. After dinner, he pulled me aside into his study for a moment and did something I never thought would happen.

"I'm sorry I didn't encourage you more Edward. All the staff have actually told me how wonderful of a piano player you were, and I honestly didn't believe them, having never really paid attention before. I'm also sorry I let your grandpa try to bully you into attending Yale." I nodded my head in acknowledgement of his words, not quite sure what to say to him. "I'm glad you are forging your own path." He patted me on the shoulder briefly before Emmett joined us in the room and sensed the tension between us.

"Thanks dad," I replied curtly as he pulled Emmett aside to talk to him and I simply wandered into the hallway a little awestruck. As I wandered into my bedroom and lay down on my lonely bed, I grabbed my phone to see if there were any messages from Bella. Success, I thought to myself as I read the newest text.

_I'm heading to a gay club with my girlfriend. Hope you are having a great weekend –B_

I looked at the timestamp on the message and it was 10:05pm, which was only a few minutes ago, so I wrote her back a quick message.

_What club and what girlfriend? –E_

I was shocked to see a picture message on my phone a few minutes later, and sure enough, there was a photo of my hot girlfriend kissing Rosalie in the back of a cab, or it looked like a cab. The message was short and sweet.

_The Lab. –B_

I burst from my room and found Emmett in his, dragging him down the hallway to our father's office. "Would you be really mad if there was an emergency and Emmett and I headed back to New York tonight?" I asked nervously of my father as I showed Emmett the text message and photo from Bella.

"Oh no. They could be in real trouble," lied Emmett, feigning concern, as I noticed him shifting slightly from the obvious erection the photo had just caused.

"Well, I would be disappointed, especially after we made such progress tonight, but I understand that if you are needed elsewhere, that is important too," explained Carlisle, his brow furrowed in frustration.

"How about we will go if we promise to come back in two weeks for Columbus Day weekend?" Emmett suggested, as I patted him on the shoulder for such a smart move. Carlisle just nodded his head and agreed to the request.

"If this is urgent, I can always have the jet ready in about half an hour. Do you boys think it is urgent enough to need to use the company jet?" asked Carlisle as Emmett and I stared at each other impatiently.

"Fuck yes," we both yelled in agreement as we ran back to our rooms to grab our bags and hop into my father's Maybach, after he offered to drive us to the airport to spend a little more time with us. As we sat in the plane, anxiously awaiting take off, Emmett and I practically stared each other down, both of us thinking the same thing.

"I get Bella at our place, you can take Rosalie to her apartment," I said with an evil grin, imagining all the things I would be doing to her in a few hours for teasing me.

"Deal little brother."


	41. The Lab to Bleeker St

**A/N: I got a lot of people telling me I stopped the last chapter at the wrong place, since they were clearly eager for the next part at the club. So here you guys go, the night at 'the lab' which is a real hip hop gay and lesbian club in NYC.**

**Thanks again to everyone for their awesome reviews. Please review like crazy on this chapter. It makes me feel a bit better while going through the stress of moving.**

**I don't own twilight, but I should own stock in Pepsi considering how much Diet Pepsi I drink.**

**BPOV**

Jasper stood between Rosalie and I, our hands grasped tightly together, as Garrett led us into the loud club. He nodded his head at Sven as he wrapped his arm around us and the bouncer gladly moved aside and let us into the club. They didn't even ask for our I.D. which made me somewhat relived, although I was still surprisingly tense to be in a gay and lesbian club. Rosalie and I had agreed in the cab to stick as close to Jasper as possible, and we laughed at the possibility of people thinking the three of us were in a relationship. We had joked even more about the entire situation when Rosalie texted Edward with my phone on the way to the club.

_I'm heading to a gay club with my girlfriend. Hope you are having a great weekend –B_

We giggled incessantly in the back of the cab, which I was upset to learn yet again, wasn't the cash cab. Jasper and Garrett simply grinned at us, like we were two drunken teenagers, which made Rosalie giggle even more, especially when we got the text back from Edward

_What club and what girlfriend? –E_

"Can we have a bit of fun with this?" asked Rosalie as I nodded eagerly. She handed my cell phone to Jasper and insisted he take a picture of us together, which he thought was a bad idea. "Just do it Jasper or I'll tell the boys that you were a horrible babysitter." Jasper finally relented and Rosalie leaned forward and gave me a long kiss on the lips as Jasper snapped the photo and handed back the phone remorsefully.

"This is going to kill him," I explained to Rose as she sent the picture message to Edward with the text message telling him which club we were going to.

_The Lab. –B_

The strobe lights in the club were almost as intense as the sheer number of people dancing, it was a little bit daunting at first, but then it quickly began to remind me of one of the clubs Edward and I had gone to in Europe and I became increasingly more comfortable. Jasper and Garrett led us to the bar where they ordered all of us a drink before we made our way around the club. Jasper had his arms around both of our shoulders as Garrett led us to a table and I couldn't help but notice some of the envious glances Jazz was getting from some of the people. I wasn't sure if they were angry, jealous or perhaps both, because he certainly looked like a lucky son of a bitch tonight.

We sat and relaxed at our table for a bit, enjoying three more drinks before Rosalie dragged me onto the dance floor with her, leaving Jasper texting on his cell phone and Garrett chatting to some ordinary looking boy, who definitely seemed interested in him. Garrett, however, did not share the same interest.

"Bella, dance with me. I'm getting odd looks from the redhead in plaid over there," signaled Rosalie angrily as I walked closer to her and grabbed her hip, dancing seductively with her as we watched the men at our table. "I miss Emmett," she said with a sigh as I joined her. I missed Edward too.

"It's only like 36 more hours Rosie. They'll be home soon," I said happily, hoping to change her mood, but she simply nodded at me and continued dancing with me. After half an hour of continual grinding and dancing with Rosalie, which also led to a few small kisses to keep several women away from us, we wandered back to our table, where Jasper and Garrett were deep in some sort of conversation.

"How are you girls doing?" asked Garrett suspiciously. Rosalie and I both looked at each other, knowing full well that something was up.

"We're fine. What's going on?" inquired Rosalie as she ordered another drink and started to tap her fingers on the table nervously.

"How do you two feel about having a little fun tonight?" Garrett asked, as Jasper's smile grew wide. I was suddenly very nervous. "Your boyfriends are on their way back to town. Apparently the little picture message you sent them caused quite a stir and they are taking the company jet back here. Jasper just got off the phone with them."

"What the hell? We were kidding; do they honestly think Rosalie and I are suddenly lesbian lovers?" I spit out as Jasper grinned at me like a fricking moron.

"They are on their way here from the airport, but they don't know that you know that they are coming," he said enthusiastically as I took a moment to try to decipher what he was saying since he spoke so fast and sounded like a perky sixteen year old girl. "I think you two should play up the whole lesbian thing, and pretend that you have no idea they are here. It would be hilarious and definitely teach them a lesson for making me babysit you. Make them regret thinking that they couldn't trust you."

Rosalie and I both stared at each other for a few moments, before nodding our heads. If our boys didn't think they could trust us, we were definitely going to mess with their minds. "Come to the bathroom with me Bella," said Rosalie with a grin as she grabbed my hand. I took a big gulp of my drink before letting her lead me down the hall and into the large washroom. We didn't even step into a stall or try to hide anything; instead, she ripped the straps off my tank top, leaving me in what looked like a crazy tube top.

"What the hell Rosie?" I shrieked as she suddenly grabbed my shirt hem and ripped up the side seams, approximately an inch.

"If we're playing up the slutty lesbian roles, you need to look a bit sluttier. Here put on some of my red lipstick," she said enthusiastically. I glanced in the mirror as I applied the lipstick and then I had a bright idea.

"Hold still Rosie," I said with a grin as I leaned forward and kissed her neck, leaving a big lipstick mark. She looked at herself in the mirror and laughed eagerly. Then she applied some more lipstick to herself and leaned forward and kissed my chest, just above the edge of my shirt. "That will definitely drive them nuts." We were about to walk out of the bathroom when Jasper sent me a quick text.

_They're here. Go to the dance floor and do your thing._

"The boys are here," I said with a smirk as Rosalie grabbed my hand in hers and led us out on the dance floor, not even paying attention to our table, where we could see two other figures seated. The moment we took up our previous spot on the floor, I had to stifle a giggle as 'if you seek amy' by Britney Spears started up, the music completely taking over the entire club. I wanted to look towards Edward, to see his reaction, but Rosalie made sure my focus was on her and not on my boyfriend.

"Bella pay attention," said Rosalie fiercely as she grabbed my waist and pulled me closer to her, slipping her leg in between mind to grind on me lightly. I was nervous, but she made this easy as she grabbed my head in her hands and kissed me passionately, running her tongue along my bottom lip. I was about to turn my head to see what was going on at our table, but my cell phone suddenly buzzed. It was Garrett texting me this time.

_The boys are panting yet frustrated. Give them more tongue action._

I showed Rosalie the text, since her back was to the table now and she turned us around until the boys had a better view of us dancing. Our hands were gripped firmly on each other's hips and I let out a small gasp as Rosalie suddenly grabbed my ass.

"What?" she said with a laugh. "Emmett's an ass man, that will definitely drive him wild," she explained before she leaned in to kiss me again, this time with a lot more tongue. My hand even moved up to the back of her neck and began pushing her harder onto my lips. Before I realized it, I had let out an involuntary moan.

"Sorry… reflex," I whispered to her as she shrugged her shoulders, not particularly caring that she was turning me on. Suddenly a light seemed to go off in Rosalie's head.

"I have a great idea. I think we should try to leave. Emmett and Edward have definitely got enough of a show tonight, and I miss Em. If we make it look like we are leaving, to go fuck or something, they will no doubt get off their asses," she insisted firmly as I nodded my head. I continued dancing with her, this time turning around so my back was to her and she gripped my hips as I basically rubbed my ass all over her. We were giggling happily now and I wrote a quick message to Jasper to tell him we were leaving.

_Rose and I are outta here. See you tomorrow –B_

Once I hit send and looked over at the table, I noticed that Edward was pounding back a shot of some sort and Emmett was drinking heavily from his beer. I watched with a smile as Jazz checked his phone and suddenly nodded at me. "Ok, we've got the all clear. Why don't you lead the way," I said with a laugh as I grabbed her hand and let her lead me towards the front door, through the crowds of people.

Once we were outside of the club, Rosalie and I released our hands and took a quick step apart; catching the eye of both Sven and a few people in line waiting to get in. We thought for a moment that our plan had backfired, until Emmett and Edward both stormed out of the club, completely out of breath.

"Your place, now" shouted Emmett as he grabbed Rosalie and practically tossed her over his shoulder in one movement, causing Rosalie to giggle like a schoolgirl, especially after he smacked her ass and tossed her into the first available taxi. We could hear her muffled laughter as they pulled away down the street and I smiled happily, glad that Rosalie was so ecstatic to be back with Emmett. I suddenly felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my body, pulling me close against his chest.

"I leave you alone for a few hours and you start making out with Rosalie?" asked Edward curiously as I felt his hard cock press against my ass. I pushed myself back against him as a black town car rolled in front of the club and Edward opened the door, ushering me in. "Home please," Edward said to the driver as he grabbed my face tightly in his hands and pulled me closer for a kiss.

"I missed you," I admitted, my voice dripping with lust.

"I don't see how you could have had time to miss me, since you were practically fucking Rosalie on the dance floor. What were you two doing in the bathroom before Em and I got there?" Edward asked curiously as his hand moved slowly up my thigh to cup my excited heat.

"Don't you want to know," I laughed easily as he leaned forward to my ear and bit it gently.

"Tell me Bella. I already see she's been kissing you all over," said Edward quietly as his finger now moved over the lipstick mark on my chest, which I had forgotten was there. "Are there marks elsewhere?" I shook my head from side to side and his grin grew to a frown. "You and Rosalie together would be fucking hot."

"Does that mean I have your permission?" I asked with a giggle as he moved his hand around the back of my neck now, stroking his fingers from my shoulder down to my cleavage.

"Never. You're mine and I don't fucking share."

**EPOV**

The moment our town car pulled in front of the club just before midnight, I was immediately nervous. Not that I had any reason to be, I knew Bella wouldn't leave me, especially for Rosalie, but I was nervous anyways. It was more of a nervous curiosity. I had no idea what I would encounter in that club. Emmett flirted with the bouncer, which got us into the bar faster, but as we approached Jasper, we couldn't see Rosalie or Bella anywhere.

"Where are they?" asked Emmett a bit forcefully as he sat down beside Garrett and waved a waitress over to our table.

"They went into the bathroom together like ten minutes ago, who knows what they are doing in there. They could barely keep their hands off of each other back at the dorm," said Jasper with a smirk. I hoped he was lying, although the images he was giving me were definitely good ones.

Emmett ordered each of us a beer and a shot and we waited patiently for them to come out from the bathroom. We were both getting pretty antsy after waiting almost five more minutes for them to show up. I was even considering busting into the bathroom to get them, until I Jasper gently nudged me in the shoulder and I saw both girls walking hand in hand across the club to the dance floor. Bella was looking gorgeous as per usual, but I couldn't help but notice her shirt was ripped in several locations and the straps for her tank top were gone. There was no way she was wearing a bra either.

"What the hell is on Bella's chest?" I asked all the other guys as I squinted my eyes a bit to try and see her more clearly. The girls turned around a bit and I couldn't see anything now, except for Rosalie's hands all over Bella's hips.

"I think its lipstick," laughed Garrett as both Emmett and I glared at him. I was horny as hell and when the girls danced around, practically dry humping each other on the floor, I was done for. I turned back to my beer for a moment as I heard Emmett gasp. I whipped my head around and caught the two of them full on making out, surrounded by others who were staring intently, some obviously jealous. I was about to go and grab Bella when I felt Jasper's hand on my shoulder, keeping me in place.

"Just give it a few more minutes, I'm sure they know you're here," he explained calmly as we all glared at him. Garrett left us to go and talk to someone he recognized and when I turned my head back towards the dance floor, they were whispering to each other and then they walked away hand in hand.

"They're leaving Emmett," I called to him as we both jumped from our seats and tried to follow our girls out of the club, only to be interrupted by a few people who tried to dance with us. As we finally stepped out into the warm late September night, Bella and Rosalie were standing off to the side, looking disappointed. Emmett practically ran to Rosalie and tossed her over his shoulder.

"Your place, now" he yelled at her as he ran towards the first taxi and tossed her in easily, jumping in right after her.

"I leave you alone for a few hours and you start making out with Rosalie?" I asked after I had wrapped my arms around her and ground my hard cock into her tight ass. The town car Emmett and I had drive us to the club pulled in front of the building and I helped Bella get in as I asked the driver to take us back to my place before I leaned in for a kiss.

"I missed you," she said seductively as she batted her eyelashes at me. I was glad to see she was as horny as I was, because I didn't know how long I would be able to wait till I was inside of her.

"I don't see how you could have had time to miss me, since you were practically fucking Rosalie on the dance floor. What were you two doing in the bathroom before Em and I got there?" I asked, out of pure desire. I wanted her to tell me they were pleasing each other, but then again, I _really_ didn't.

"Don't you want to know," she said with a laugh as I bit her ear lobe and groaned into her ear slightly.

"Tell me Bella. I already see she's been kissing you all over," I said huskily as my fingers trailed the lipstick mark just above her left breast. "Are there marks elsewhere?"Bella motioned 'no' with her head and even though I was disappointed, I was also relieved. "You and Rosalie together would be fucking hot."

"Does that mean I have your permission?" she giggled as I began to stroke the back of her neck with my fingers, before moving them down to her luscious breasts.

"Never. You're mine and I don't fucking share."

The drive to my condo was only about ten minutes, but they were ten of the most painful minutes I had ever experienced. My cock was aching as it strained against the confines of my shorts, and Bella was not making matters any easier. The driver could clearly see us from the front seat, so we kept our lust to simple kisses and touches, even though I wanted to force her onto her back on the seat and fuck her senseless.

As the car pulled in front of my building, our driver grabbed mine and Emmett's bags from the trunk and I grasped them tightly as I grabbed Bella's hand in my free hand and dragged her up the stairs with me. For a brief moment, I actually felt like a caveman dragging his woman back to his cave, but I quickly erased the thought from my mind as I unlocked the door and Bella entered eagerly. "Take your clothes off," I said to her with a smirk as I left the room to put Emmett's bag in his room. As I walked back towards my room, I saw Bella pulling her skirt down, her top already gone and I groaned in anticipation. I put my overnight bag away in my room and wandered towards the living room, where Bella was lying on the couch, with one leg hooked over the top of the sofa, spread open for me. Damn cock tease.

"So you tease me all night at the club, and now I get teased at home too?" I asked curiously as I slowly walked towards her, pulling all of my clothes off in the process. As I got closer to her, I stopped, unable to form a coherent thought about what I was going to do next.

"Edward?" called out Bella from the couch. I shook my head slowly, waking from my thoughts and decided to do something we hadn't done yet. I walked over to Bella and made her sit up a bit on the couch, until her mouth was even with my cock.

"Open up," I instructed her as she smiled excitedly at me and opened wide, swallowing my cock deep in her throat. The sensation of her hot mouth made my dick twitch, and even though it had only been a few days since our last time together, it definitely felt longer. I moved my hands down to her thighs and pushed them open, so I could have access to her entrance. "You're soaking wet Bella," I commented casually as I dipped my finger in between her lips to feel her slick folds.

As I moaned from Bella's increased sucking on my cock, I grasped her head with one hand and started to move my dick in and out of her mouth, fucking her gently as her tongue covered every inch of me. I was completely in charge of the situation, I told myself, as I began to finger fuck her gently while still thrusting into her eager mouth.

"Oh just like that Bella," I moaned as she sucked on me a little tighter, unable to say anything with me buried inside her mouth. It seemed like forever as I felt her body tighten around my fingers as she prepared herself for her orgasm. I let go of her head, and she immediately grasped the base of my cock with her tiny hand and began sucking, licking and tenderly nibbling my hard shaft. The moment my thumb found her clit, she began to shudder beneath me and her moans vibrated against my cock, causing me to come with her, straight down her throat. "Good girl," I commented, albeit a little bit sexist, but Bella simply released me from her mouth and smiled sexily at me.

"Why did you come back Edward?" Bella asked as I swooped her up in my arms and took her to my bedroom, figuring that Jasper would probably be coming back here tonight to sleep. I didn't exactly want to get caught by my best friend in the middle of our living room.

"Cause you and Rosalie are teases," I admitted eagerly. "Emmett and I pretended there was a big emergency down here and Carlisle loaned us the company jet. Sweet huh? Take about misuse of company services. Emmett and I just wasted like twenty grand of the company money to get laid, and we'd do it again in a heartbeat." Bella kissed my lips firmly as we both broke into easy laughter over the situation.

"You do know that we were only doing that as a show for you and Emmett right? Jasper told us you guys were coming and Garrett suggested the lesbian act," Bella admitted as I nodded my head.

"Don't worry Bella, I trust you," I said sweetly as I kissed her lips. I was about to wrap us up in the blanket on my bed when I felt horny again, and opted instead to roll Bella onto her hands and knees. "I think there was something I forgot to do today," I said fiercely as Bella repositioned herself and turned back to smile at me.

"And what would that be Edward?" she asked curiously as I kneeled behind her and positioned myself at her wet entrance, covering myself with a condom quickly.

"This," I replied casually as I gripped her hips in my hands and thrust myself deep inside of her.

"Holy fuck," she yelled out loudly as I began to move faster, in and out of her tightness. As I looked down onto her back, I immediately felt remorseful and pulled out, insisting she turn over. I slipped back inside of her with one loud moan and was pleased to see the reaction on her face. It was just what I had been missing moments ago.

"You are so damned gorgeous," I said breathlessly as I looked down upon her, and grasped her breasts in my hands, massaging firmly as I pounded into her. Thanks to my previous release, I was able to last longer than I would have it this had been round one, and I was thankful as I watched Bella beneath me, moaning and panting in pleasure. I reached my hand between us, resting it firmly on her clit, and I smiled as she began to yell and curse even louder now, her body writhing on my bed in sheer ecstasy.

"I need to come Edward," she yelled out moments later, as my finger began to work faster on her hard little nub. "Please," she begged of me as I pulled out slowly and then thrust back in quickly, bringing forth her release with a loud grunt and moan. It was honestly one of the sexiest things I had ever seen or heard in my entire life and I immediately came deep inside of her.

I rolled off of her and lay on my back, trying to catch my breath. I felt Bella's head rest on my chest, my heart still practically beating out of it, and was suddenly calmed by her gentle touch.

"So, my parents agreed that I could go home with you for Thanksgiving, so we'll have to book some tickets soon," I mentioned casually as she lifted her head from my chest and then laid it on her arms, which were now spread across me. "You do still want me to go home with you right? To meet the family and all that crap?"

"Yeah," she said anxiously as she nodded her head lightly. "I'm just nervous about it. I guess I have two months to prepare right?"

"Yes you do love."

"Just don't take it too personally if my mother isn't your biggest fan. At least Charlie is on your side, and that counts for more in my opinion," added Bella as I smiled at her. I had never had to worry about gaining the acceptance of parents, because I had never met anyone's before. Bella was my first serious girlfriend and based on all the thoughts I had recently, she was going to be my only girlfriend.

**A/N: The next chapter will fast forward two months to thanksgiving in the Swan house, just so you are all prepared. It will probably be a day or two until it is posted though.**


	42. Bleeker St to Forks

**A/N: Here's part one of the thanksgiving in forks chapter. I had intended it to be one chapter, but the more I wrote, the longer it got, so it's going to be two. **

**I'm glad most of you enjoyed the Bella and Rose playfulness, followed by the lemony goodness of the last chapter. I had a lot of fun writing that one. I hope you all enjoy this one just as much. I was flabbergasted to see I had 850 reviews! You guys totally rock. Is it too much to ask for 900 reviews before I put up the next chapter? Probably, since some of you will review several times just to get the chapter quicker. Oh well.**

**Thanks to everyone who has wished me well on the move. 1 week from tonight and I will be back in Canada. I'm not sure how quickly chapters will come then, but I know weekends will be basically out of the question since I'll be away in cottage country. Fellow Ontarians know this well.**

**Anywhoo, thanks again and I don't own Twilight, but I do have the 'new moon' poster which was released today as the backdrop on my computer. If you get a chance to watch the MTV movie awards on the 30****th****, do it. Rob, Taylor and Kristen will be presenting, and there is supposed to be a sneak preview of New Moon. I'm excited!!**

**BPOV**

The rest of September and October were hectic to say the least. My classes started to pick up and Edward and I seemed to have even less time together than usual, but we made it work. Saturdays and Wednesday nights were completely ours, and things slowly went back to way we were before our break in August. Edward was even more caring and compassionate than usual, the sex was just as amazing, but less adventurous because we now knew even more about each other, but I wasn't complaining.

My favorite time of the week was always Wednesday's at five when Edward would show up at my door, with some new kind of takeout and a movie, and once both were done, we ended up in my bedroom making love until the early hours of the morning. Edward and I didn't have any classes until ten in the morning, so we always slept in, curled up next to one another, and when we woke in the morning he would fetch the coffee while I made fresh muffins for us. It was like we were back in Europe for a few hours of the day, and it was always perfect.

Tonight wasn't very different, except it was a Tuesday evening and Edward came with some Greek Food, a pirated version of Observe & Report (courtesy of Emmett) and his luggage. We were leaving for Washington in the morning to spend Thanksgiving with my parents.

"Ooh that smells good," I said eagerly as Edward left the movie and the takeout bag from 'Opa' on the counter and took his luggage into my bedroom, which he preferred to call our bedroom, even though he only stayed over one night a week. I started to pull out the various dishes, while Edward was gone for a few minutes, most likely getting comfortable in some boxers and a t-shirt, which was what we usually did on Wednesday nights.

"I got some extra tzatziki cause you bitched last time that I didn't have enough," laughed Edward as he walked back into the room and gave me a quick peck on the lips. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, even though it's only been two days," I replied with a laugh as I opened up one of the greek salads and began to cover it in dressing. We sat on the couch in relative silence as the movie started and then Edward turned towards me and wanted to talk.

"Do you think they'll like me?" he asked nervously as I laughed heavily at him.

"Do you honestly care?" I replied coolly, which seemed to frustrate him.

"Well, no, but I don't want them to hate me. I'm not worried about your Dad, as much as I am about your mom. Did you ever talk to her about the whole 'Jacob' thing?" sighed Edward as he took a big bite of salad, which ended up being mainly cucumber.

"Yeah, we discussed it on several different occasions. The first involved a lot of screaming from both of us, but she promised to be on her best behavior this week. She claimed that she was looking out for my best interest and my future, which she thought was Jacob." I heard Edward let out a low growl, which was his standard reaction when there was any mention of Jacob, but I ignored it. "She knows I love you, and she promised not to ruin the week."

Edward calmed down with the questions and we finished our dinner in almost complete silence. After the movie was done, I cleaned up from our dinner and Edward shut down everything in the apartment so that we head to bed. It was only nine o'clock when we both crawled into bed in our usual attire, nothing, and I curled up in his arms with my head resting against his chest. "Are you sad you won't be home for Thanksgiving with all of our friends?" I asked curiously. I was kind of upset to learn that all our friends were spending Thanksgiving with the Cullen's in Boston and we weren't going to be there. I wasn't too surprised when I ended up forming such strong bonds with all of Edward's friends, and I felt like the sixth member of their little group. In fact, every time Alice called for Rosalie, we usually ended up talking for at least ten minutes, which was really putting a dent in the time I should have been spending on my homework.

"No, I'm not upset. Hell, I was home last weekend to spend time with my parents and Alice. It was Esme's only condition for me to be allowed to come to Forks with you. Can you believe they insisted on that? I shouldn't have complained about their parenting skills, because now they seemed to care too much sometimes," he said with a giggle as his hand worked its way down my side and began moving around my belly button.

"Do you think they're upset I stole you away for six days?" I asked tensely as I shivered slightly from the touch on my skin.

"No. My parents actually love you. They see you as the catalyst for my change, so they love you 'to bits' as my mother likes to say," laughed Edward as his head moved against my neck and he began to kiss me softly. I let out a small groan of pleasure, and I heard Edward sigh quietly before using his hand to push my hair away from my neck and shoulder.

"No visible hickeys," I warned him as I felt him sucking on my neck furiously. "My dad might like you, but he still owns a gun." I felt Edward nod against my neck and then he pushed my shoulders down, rolling me onto my back.

"That's okay, I'd much rather suck on these than your neck," he whispered seductively as his mouth latched on to my nipple and began sucking and biting, eliciting louder moans from me. I was glad that Rose had left for Boston earlier today so that I didn't need to be quiet. I didn't do quiet when it came to sex with Edward. His free hand was massaging my other breast, while my hands worked their way through his hair desperately pulling him onto me. He suddenly pulled away and looked at me with sad eyes, "We won't get alone time in Forks, will we?"

I wish I could say we would, but I didn't know. "I'm not sure. There is the possibility that my parents will go out for a little bit, but probably not long enough for us to get in anything meaningful, maybe just a quick fuck, I suppose," I said casually as I felt Edward's hand move down between my thighs.

"A quick fuck with you Bella is a hundred times better than making love with anyone else," he replied sweetly, albeit a little oddly. I didn't care though, because he was mine, and I knew the affection behind his words. I arched my back slightly as I felt his finger rubbing my clit fiercely.

"Do you think it's funny that we are talking our way through sex right now?" I asked with a slight laugh as I felt Edward move down the bed and slowly reposition himself between my legs.

"No, I find it very distracting. I don't multi-task during sex Bella, you should know that. Now, can I continue or would you rather discuss your Christmas list?" I simply nodded my head and shut the hell up. Apparently my conversation had pissed him off a little bit, but I was pleased to find he was taking his frustration out on my clit, biting it immediately, instead of being tender at first. It was sheer heaven and I groaned out his name the moment his teeth were on me. He spent the next several minutes lavishing attention all over me with his fingers, tongue and mouth, causing me to come hard on more than one occasion, which pleased him to no end. His fingers were deep inside of me, curling up slightly as the last wave of pleasure overtook my entire body and I shuddered beneath him, screaming his name loudly.

Edward kneeled back on his feet and smiled up at me, licking my juices from his lips with his tongue as I reached behind me and grabbed a condom from the nightstand. There were several boxes in there because neither of us kept track of how often we slept together, and we kept buying them to be safe. I was on the pill, but we were not taking any chances anymore. We had done it without condoms twice, and thankfully nothing happened, but neither of us was willing to sacrifice all that we had worked for. Eventually, we both saw kids in our future, but that future was definitely not nine months from now.

I sat up slowly and eased the condom onto his rock hard cock, before he leaned forward and kissed me sweetly and the weight of his body against mine eased me back onto our bed. I moaned against his lips as he kissed me again, this time with more passion and fervor as his tongue pushed into my mouth and I began sucking on it as hard as I could. The moment Edward slipped inside of me, I accidently bit down on his tongue, causing him to pull his mouth from mine in frustration.

"I am sooo sorry" I pleaded with him as his hands gripped my hips and he pushed himself further into me. "Usually when we start I bite my lip."

"Bella, shut it," laughed Edward as he bent forward and began to kiss my breasts while he thrust into me, causing me to moan his name continually, with each and every thrust. It was heavenly and perfect and every other positive adjective in the English dictionary. "Touch yourself," he implored of me a few minutes later. He had leaned back on his knees slightly, pulling me up so that my back was flat on the bed, but my ass was not. The position wasn't the most comfortable, but he got an excellent view of my clit, which I was now rubbing tenderly, and when he pushed inside me, the sensation was increased tenfold. Only a minute later, I was moaning in ecstasy on the verge of coming for the third time that night.

"Holy shit Edward, fuck me," I shouted out as my body quivered again, every muscle tensing and I let my orgasm wash over me. I felt Edward shake slightly before calling out my name in a long winded groan, before he practically collapsed back onto the bed in exhaustion. "That was worth it if we can't do it again until we get home."

"We're doing it in Forks Bella. When have you ever known me to go longer than five days without sex from you?" I slipped back under the comfort of my blankets and started to think. The only time I could remember was when we were broken up, and that didn't count. "See, so we're gonna have to do it. Otherwise, it won't be normal. Didn't you say to act as normal as possible?"

I nodded my head in agreement as Edward moved himself so that he was behind me on bed, his arms wrapped around my body tightly. "You did pack pajamas right? We're doing things as normal as possible, but I don't think I want my mom seeing you in all your luscious glory. I also don't want my dad to shoot it off," I said with a laugh as Edward kissed my temple.

"No worries sweetheart. I have pajamas and condoms," he whispered to me as he moved his head into the crook of my neck, signaling that he was ready to fall asleep. "I love you."

"I love you too baby," I whispered back as I tried to let sleep take me. Instead, I ended up spending the night listening to Edward's even breathing and worrying about the trip back home. My mom hadn't actually promised to be on her best behavior, though I had mentioned it. Then again, she had also mentioned that Jacob was going to be home for the holidays visiting Billy, and we might need to visit them, to which I responded 'over my dead body.' That didn't go over very well with Renee, but I didn't care.

The next afternoon, we were sitting patiently at the Port Angeles airport awaiting my dad, who had been charged to pick us up. We had taken a direct flight from New York to Seattle, and then had a connector to Port Angeles. It was a lot quicker to take a short flight to Port Angeles, than to make my parents drive three hours into the city. As we stood out on the curb, I was immediately mortified to see Charlie pull up in his Forks Police Cruiser, which I had begged him not to do. Edward glanced over at me nervously and I shook my head as Charlie walked up to us and gave me a big hug.

"Bells, you're looking good. New York must agree with you," he said happily as I nodded my head. Yeah Dad, it's New York that does a body good, I laughed to myself as I looked up at Edward, who had extended his hand to my father.

"Edward Cullen. It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Swan," he said politely as I smiled up at him eagerly. He was pulling out all the stops to impress the family, and I couldn't blame him. He was nervous as hell though and almost dropped my bag as he handed it to Charlie to put in the trunk of the car.

"Nice to meet you too Edward. Bella has told me so much about you. I'm glad you are taking care of my girl," Charlie said sweetly as he opened the passenger door and motioned for me to get inside.

"I think I'll sit in the back with Edward. This car can be a little scary," I said with a grin as Charlie just nodded his head and opened the back door for us, letting me get in first, followed by Edward. "I thought I had asked you to bring Mom's car?"

"It's in the shop again. Something with the alternator I think. I never pay too much attention."

The rest of the ride home was fairly boring. Edward held my hand tightly and only really spoke when Charlie addressed him specifically, like when he asked about Edward's family. "Actually Mr. Swan, my father is a surgeon and my mother is one of those ladies who lunch," he replied with a nervous laugh. I couldn't help but feel comforted when my dad insisted that Edward call him Charlie. That was a great sign.

I was immediately overwhelmed with terror as the cruiser pulled into the driveway and my mother walked out onto the porch of our small house. I stepped out of the car anxiously as Edward closed in beside me and took my hand in his, a little too tightly. "Here goes nothing," he whispered to me as he kissed my cheek and I led him up the stairs.

"Hi Mom," I said tentatively as I reached out and hugged her, never once letting go of Edward's hand. I tugged him closer as my mom pulled away and looked us up and down, as though expecting something unusual. "This is Edward Cullen, my boyfriend," I stated proudly as he offered his hand to my mom and she took it nervously.

"It's wonderful to meet you Edward. Anyone who can make Bella as happy as you do is more than welcome in our home. Come on in guys, dinner is almost ready." I looked up at Edward and he gave me a genuine smile, pleased at his interaction with my mother. Unfortunately, I couldn't help but wonder when all hell was going to break loose.

**EPOV**

As I walked into their small, but comfortable kitchen, I smiled down at Bella, pleased at how things had gone so far. Her father had been downright nice to meet and her mother certainly didn't see as off-putting as Bella had mentioned since we had met back in London. I determined to just play nice with everyone. I still had my reservations about her mom, especially since a leopard doesn't change its spots, but I would hope that Renee could see how much Bella meant to me and vice versa, thus relaxing her stance about me.

"Bella, you'll be up in your room and Edward will be in the guest room down here," said Renee forcefully as she moved towards the stove to stir something.

"No, Edward's staying in my room. I wouldn't wish that old sofa bed on my worst enemy so I'm definitely not letting Edward sleep on it. We'll be on our best behavior, we'll even sleep with the door open, if it makes you feel any better," said Bella, just as fiercely as her mother. No wonder they had issues, they were both stubborn as hell. Just then, Charlie ambled in with our luggage and laid it down beside the entrance into the living room.

"What's going on?" he asked, unaware that he had just entered into a war zone.

"Bella here is insisting that Edward sleep in her room," said Renee as I wrapped my arm around Bella's shoulder, trying to offer support to her.

"Would you prefer we snuck around in the middle of the night?" asked Bella curiously as she reached down and grabbed her bag, before turning up the stairs. I grabbed my own bag and followed her slowly, unsure of what to do, as I heard Charlie and Renee arguing in the kitchen. I was surprised Charlie was actually on our side and I heard Charlie say things like 'they are both mature' and 'they remind me of us when we were younger.' I never heard the end of the conversation, as Bella pulled me into her modest bedroom and kissed me sweetly.

"Sorry about that. We tend to argue about everything. She says potato and I say monkey." I laughed at Bella for a moment before I dropped my bag and began to look around her room. It was exactly what I would have expected of Bella. The walls were a light blue color and she had various art prints on the walls, including a few we had seen in Europe. She also had a big map of Europe on her wall with different colored pins.

"Care to explain?" I asked curiously as I motioned towards the map and she simply laughed sweetly at me.

"Okay, the red ones are the cities we've been too and the blue ones are the cities I want to go to one day," said Bella with a nervous sigh as I leaned closer to check out a few of the blue dots. There was Bern and Zurich in Switzerland, Lisbon, Portugal and Dublin, Ireland. There was over twenty blue dots on the map and I smiled enthusiastically at them, thinking about all the things Bella and I could do in those cities.

Before I had a chance to say anything to her, Charlie showed up in the door announcing that it was time for dinner. I shed my heavy sweatshirt and headed downstairs with Bella, hand in hand. Bella huffed when she saw that we were sitting across from each other at the table, but based on the size, I couldn't see any other way to sit. Conversation was tense the entire time, but it was mainly because of Renee. Charlie couldn't have been anything but eager to have me with him. He discussed sports with me, and I was thankful to have Emmett as a brother so that I knew what he was talking about. Charlie also discussed fishing and mentioned how I should come back next summer to go salmon fishing with him and some friends from the police station and Bella looked very pleased by this.

"That sounds awesome Charlie, thanks for inviting me," I replied politely as Renee glared at me for a moment before speaking.

"What makes you think Edward and Bella will be together next summer?" she asked of Charlie angrily.

"Why wouldn't they Renee? They are clearly in love with one another. Hell, they are more mature than you and I were at their age," replied Charlie tensely as he balled his hand into a fist and almost pounded it on the table in frustration.

"Can you guys stop acting like we're not here?" asked Bella as I felt her foot touching my thigh. I immediately thought very naughty things and had to shake my head for a moment to compose myself.

"I'm sorry if you think that Bella and I won't be together next year, or the year after. However, I know how we both feel about one another, and I can assure you, this won't be the last time you will see me. I'll be here every single time Bella wants me here, and I will do it with a smile on my face, even if you have a scowl Mrs. Swan, because that is what you do for the person you love," I stated confidently as I felt Charlie's hand on my shoulder, patting me supportively. What the hell was going on here? I thought to myself as Bella gave me the exact same expression of disconcertment.

I was a little shocked that all dinner conversation ceased with my words. Once we had finished, I insisted on helping Bella with the dishes as her mom prepared the turkey for tomorrow's dinner. Renee didn't talk to me for the rest of the evening actually, and I wasn't sure how to take that turn of events. Bella and I sat in the living room with Charlie for a bit watching ESPN until Bella started to get tired and we headed up to bed. Once we had changed into our pajamas, we curled up close together on the bed, my arms wrapped tightly around her to keep us warm.

"Doesn't this remind you of that small bed we slept in Hamburg? I loved that town just because you insisted that I sleep with you because you hated sharing the room," I recalled wistfully as I kissed her neck sweetly before her bedroom door slowly opened and there stood Charlie.

"We're dressed and behaving, I promise," said Bella apologetically as he just smiled at her.

"I just wanted to say goodnight," he said with a laugh as he left the door open slightly and left us alone.

"I miss Europe, we got privacy in Europe and we didn't have my mother implying we wouldn't be together," said Bella with a sad sigh as I kissed her neck again.

"Don't let her worry you Bella. Like I said at dinner, we both know how we feel about each other. If she doesn't have faith in our love, than that's her own problem."

The next morning, I was awoken to the soft sounds of raining hitting the tin roof of their garage. Bella was sleeping soundly, probably reveling in the sounds she was used to in her house. Unfortunately, I couldn't sleep any longer. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was only seven in the morning, so I slipped myself quietly from the bed, wrapping the blankets tight around Bella and I headed downstairs uncertain of what I would face.

Renee was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping on a cup of black coffee as Charlie came in the front door after getting the newspaper from the porch. It was very different from my life back in Boston, I thought to myself as I looked around for a coffee mug, unsuccessfully.

"The cups are directly above the coffeemaker," said Renee, clearly having noticed my predicament. "Cream is in the fridge and sugar is in the small green bowl beside the oven."

"Thank you," I said politely as I fixed myself a quick drink and propped myself up against the counter to enjoy it. I was about to speak when I was caught off guard by Renee, who decided to talk to me instead.

"I'm sorry if you think I don't like you Edward," she said tensely as I nodded in acknowledgement of her words. "I just want what is best for Bella, and for the longest time that has been Jacob. Charlie, however, insists that you make Bella happy, so I will try to ease up on both of you." I almost dropped my coffee to the floor because I was so surprised by her words.

"Thanks Mrs. Swan. I really do have Bella's best interests at heart and always will." Renee simply nodded at me and then insisted I could call her Renee if I wanted to. When Bella finally wandered downstairs an hour later, I was standing at the counter with Renee chopping carrots and discussing life back in Boston.

"Where are my family and what did you do to them?" she asked with an anxious giggle as she came up behind me and kissed my cheek.

"Your mom got a lobotomy last night," laughed Charlie from the kitchen chair where he was still reading the paper.

"What?" she asked with another laugh as she wrapped her arms around my waist and pushed herself against my back.

"I'm trying to not be a bitch to Edward," laughed Renee as I grabbed another carrot and began cutting. Bella was completely dumbstruck though and barely said anything else. She made herself a cup of coffee and grabbed a section of the paper which Charlie had finished with. I kept watching her, and she was doing the same, trying to catch casual glimpses of me as I helped her mother, with a big smile plastered on her face.

"Edward and I are supposed to go see Angela and Ben for lunch, so we should go get ready. I wanted to take him for a tour around town before we got to Port Angeles," said Bella with a grin as she put her empty cup in the sink and went to grab my hand.

"Let me finish with the celery babe, and then I'll be upstairs to get ready," I replied, as I got a small smile from Renee, who I assumed thought I would ditch my duties. When I was finished though, I washed my hands and was up the stairs in a flash to see Bella rummaging through her luggage for something to wear. "Perhaps we should cancel, since it's raining so hard out."

"Actually Angela just texted a minute ago saying the same thing," laughed Bella with a grin as she sat down on her bed. "So, are you going to tell me how you got my mom to not hate your guts?"

"I didn't do anything, she apologized to me. I think you have your dad to thank for everything. Seriously, this Christmas I think I might need to get him a huge fishing boat or something as a thank you," I said genuinely as Bella punched me on the shoulder and guided me down onto the bed beside her.

"Please don't do that. If you insist on getting him anything, get him a subscription to like 'Angler and Hunter.' It's cheap and appreciated," she replied as I kissed her on the temple.

"So, since we're housebound for the day, what do we do now?"

"Well, you can always go back downstairs and play sous-chef to my crazy mother," said Bella with a giggle. That was definitely not an option.

"We could always cuddle in bed till dinner was ready." This was most definitely an option, I told myself as I lay down and wrapped my arms around her tightly, hoping that I would never hear the words 'Dinner is Ready.'


	43. Forks to the Impala

**A/N: Okay, so I think this may be the last chapter of American Girl before I move in a few days. In fact, the entire story is almost done. Two more chapters I believe.**

**However, in the meantime, I am looking for assistance on the sequel. Please review and send me suggestions on locations they could visit across the continental U.S. I want them to hit the odd destinations like the world's biggest ball of twine or a Leaning Tower of Pisa in Wisconsin made entirely of cheese. I don't know if those exist, but I am sure you get the idea. I promise to give you a massive shout out if I use your locations! Thanks!**

**I don't own twilight, but I am very late for an appointment because I wanted to get this up today.**

**BPOV**

"Bella," shouted my mother from the kitchen as she woke me from my reverie of resting next to Edward. He was fast asleep with my head on his chest and my body wrapped completely around him. I slipped out from his arms and headed downstairs to find my mother stepping around the kitchen in frustration. "Can you help out for a moment?"

"Sure Mom, what do you need done?" I asked nicely, albeit a bit frustrated. I had always helped my mother with thanksgiving dinner, so tonight shouldn't be any different. In fact, I should be nicer to her in general since she has taken to being a bit more accepting of Edward, which was all I wanted from this trip.

"Can you get me a can of peas and one of cranberries as I pull the turkey out?" I nodded my head and walked towards the pantry, stepping inside and trying to turn on the light switch. There was no light.

"Jesus Christ," yelled my father as I searched around in the small dark room for what I thought were the right cans. "The rainstorm knocked the fucking power out," he screamed angrily as he wandered into the kitchen searching for a flashlight, as a big clap of thunder filled the air.

"At least the turkey is done and we have a gas stove so I can finish most of dinner," sighed my mother as I handed her two cans, baked beans and chicken broth. She looked down at me and I snatched the flashlight from my father as I walked back into the pantry and grabbed the proper cans, dropping them on the counter beside my mother. The phone rang mere minutes later, and I headed upstairs to wake up Edward. Surely he would want to be awake for the great power outage of 2009, I told myself as I pushed the door open gently and found him sitting in my desk chair beside the window.

"Where'd you go?" he asked sadly as I sat down on his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"My mom needed help in the kitchen, and then the power went out. Usually it takes a few hours for the lights to go back on around here, so dinner will certainly be interesting," I said with a laugh as Edward kissed my neck sweetly and began rubbing my hip, where my tattoo is. Now that it had healed completely and I didn't have to wear the itchy bandage anymore, Edward had taken to rubbing or kissing it at every possible chance. I always found it a little endearing when he would lean down and kiss it while we spooned after sex. Each kiss there was like another declaration of love in my opinion.

"I liked what happened last time we were left without power," he said with a chuckle as he leaned down and licked my neck, no doubt recalling our time in Copenhagen, where we took the time to explore each other a little more thoroughly. Edward kissed my lips softly and then a serious look crossed his face as he leaned forward against my neck and began to suck furiously for a few minutes. I was moaning quietly as his fingers traced along the edge of my pants gently and just as I was about to lock my door and ravish him, my father showed up in the doorway, clearing his throat. I was about to jump from my spot on Edward's lap, but he held onto me firmly.

"Your mom could use a little bit of help, from the both of you. Thanks to the power outage, which has affected most of the northwest part of the state, we're having a few extra guests over for dinner." Great, I groaned to myself as I pictured sitting around the dining room table with some of Charlie's police buddies who were also screwed by the power outage. I hopped off of Edward's lap reluctantly and he excused himself to go to the bathroom, as Charlie headed down the stairs.

"Having a bit of an issue?" I asked with a grin as I noticed the tension in his pants.

"Well, if you'd stop rubbing your ass all over me, it wouldn't be so fucking hard," he said anxiously as I giggled and started down the stairs to the kitchen. Edward joined us mere minutes later, with a nervous smile on his face. He rubbed my neck gently as my mom suddenly gasped and dropped the fork she was holding.

"Is that a hickey?" she yelled incredulously as Charlie, Edward and I all laughed.

"Just be glad all we were doing was kissing," I said sarcastically as I handed Edward the can opener so that he could open the peas and cranberries for me. My mother scoffed loudly as Charlie laughed again. When I looked over at Edward, he looked completely mortified and kept doing everything that was asked of him. Thirty minutes later, after Edward and I had filled the entire house with every single candle and lantern we could find, there was a hard knock on the door and my heart dropped.

"Who's coming over for dinner Dad?"

"It's just Billy, Rebecca and Jacob. They have an electric oven and Rebecca apparently screwed up almost everything for their dinner, so I invited them over." My dad looked at me with a big smile, apparently unaware of my mother's attempts to force Jacob and I together over the summer.

"Jacob like… Jacob who I beat the shit out of?" asked Edward as I felt him snake his hand around my waist a bit possessively. I nodded my head in frustration, knowing full well that my lovely family dinner had just turned to shit. I grabbed Edwards hand and dragged him back towards Charlie's office in a desperate attempt to separate Edward and Jacob from one another. "I'm not mad Bella. It's not like you knew he would be here."

"I know, I just want you to remember that I love you more than anything else in the world. I trust you to try to keep your cool during dinner because we do not need any more obstacles where my family is concerned." Edward nodded his head in agreement and kissed me lightly as he wrapped me up in a big hug. We could hear the voices of everyone in the living room when I suddenly cringed at the sound of my father calling my name.

"No time like the present," laughed Edward as he intertwined his fingers in mine and led me out to the living room.

"Bella, you are looking as lovely as ever. Your parents must be so excited to have you home for the holidays," said Billy excitedly as I leaned forward and gave him a gentle hug. Billy had gotten into a car accident a year after his wife passed away, but luckily for him it only left him wheelchair bound and not dead. Rebecca had come home in the summer to help take care of him now that Jacob had left for college. Thankfully Angela was up on all the latest gossip and had filled me in when I told her about Jacob surprising me at my dorm room several months ago.

"Thanks Billy," I replied genuinely as he glanced up at Edward with narrowed eyes. "This is my boyfriend, Edward Cullen." Edward extended his hand politely and Billy took it, with a firm shake. I turned back to Edward and with a nervous smile; I introduced him to the rest of our guests. "This is Rebecca and you already know Jacob."

The room was suddenly very quiet, but I was shocked when Jacob broke the tension. "It's nice to see you again Bella." I nodded my head nervously as Edward glared at him angrily. "Everything smells awesome Renee. I'm actually glad the power went out and Rebecca burnt the turkey and pie."

"Thanks Jacob. Why don't you all go get comfortable in the living room while Bella helps me finish up in the kitchen?" I gripped tighter to Edward's hand, not wanting him to be in a room with Jacob and pulled him with me into the kitchen. "Oh Edward, would you mind helping Bella set the table?"

"It would be my pleasure Renee," he said forcefully as I led him through to the dining room, him carrying all the plates and me with the cutlery. Only twenty minutes later, after successfully avoiding the entire Black family, we were all sitting around the dining room table as Billy said a quick blessing as my father took great pride in carving up the turkey. I couldn't help but notice how tense Edward had become now that we were seated across from Jacob and Rebecca.

"So Edward, Jacob tells me you are a music major back in New York," said Rebecca sweetly as she served some potatoes onto her plate and passed them to Jacob.

"Yeah, I'm studying music and music theory back at NYU. I play piano." Rebecca simply nodded as my mother began to speak.

"It must be hard for the two of you to spend time together with all your classes and everything," said Renee, sounding a bit like the bitch she was when we walked in the house two days ago.

"Actually, we have a good routine down. We always make time for our studies first and us second, but we've had no problems with it. Sure, we don't see each other as much as we'd like, but I'd walk on broken glass for Bella, so what does a few days apart matter?" said Edward fiercely as I grabbed his thigh tightly under the table. Jacob was surprisingly quiet for most of the dinner, until Rebecca took her heavy sweater off, revealing a small tattoo on her wrist.

"That's nice ink," I said honestly as I realized my stupid words and immediately smacked my hand to my head. Edward's hand moved to the back of my neck, massaging gently to relive my tension. There was always the possibility that Jacob wouldn't open his mouth with my entire family sitting here, right?

"How is your _ink_ doing Bella?" asked Jacob with an evil smirk as Edward dropped his fork onto his plate, causing a loud noise. "I know it's been a few months, but it must have healed by now right?"

"What ink?" my mother yelled out angrily as Edward gripped my hand for support.

"I have a tattoo mom," I said quietly under my breath. I looked over at Charlie and he had no expression whatsoever, instead he was shoveling more turkey into his mouth. When he saw my face, he shrugged his shoulders indifferently. Apparently he didn't care about the tattoo, which was a bit of a relief.

"Doesn't Edward have a matching tattoo?" added Jacob as I stood from the table, but Edward held me back, knowing full well I had planned to wrap my hands as tightly around his throat as I could. My mother stared over at both of us awaiting a response of some sort.

"Yes, we have matching tattoos. They are Japanese lettering and were designed by our friend Jasper. They aren't very big and they aren't a big deal," said Edward as he glanced nervously between my parents, unsure of what to expect.

"That actually sounds nice," said Rebecca, easing the awkwardness around the table. I stared down at my plate, suddenly not feeling very hungry. Who knows what else Jacob would tell them in his apparent effort to piss me off. I immediately thought he would let me parents know about Edward beating the shit out of him the night he found out about the tattoo, but he said nothing. He knew he already caused enough damage with the tattoo issue.

"We'll discuss it later Isabella," said my mother, the disappointment clear in her voice. The rest of dinner dragged on. Edward and Jacob were constantly throwing angry glares at one another, while Rebecca tried to pull me and my mother into conversation about anything. Billy and Charlie were in their own little world, discussing fishing and sports. It was sheer torture. Waterboarding had nothing on Thanksgiving dinner with the Blacks and the Swans, I laughed to myself as Renee asked me to start clearing the table. _Thank god_.

As I grabbed a few of the empty plates from the table, Jacob jumped up to help me, followed immediately by Edward. "Both of you can sit the fuck down. I can handle cleaning off the table," I yelled angrily at them as they both hung their heads and returned to their seats.

"Watch your mouth Bells," called my father from the end of the table, although he didn't sound too upset. He had adjusted to me getting older a lot better than Renee had. I shook my head, in an effort to pretend the last half hour hadn't happened and took all the plates into the kitchen, returning moments later to clear off all the food that was left. Once the table was clear, I began to start a pot of coffee when I felt Edward slide his arms around me and kiss my neck.

"Jacob has been staring at your hickey all night and I must admit, I feel kind of smug about it," laughed Edward into my ear as he tightened his grip. "I'm sorry he told your parents about the tattoos."

"It's fine. They needed to know eventually right? Although I would have preferred it happened several years into the future, but they'll deal with it." I poured some of the coffee into the filter and we stood against the counter, listening to the coffee drip into the old stovetop carafe that my parents had, Edward's hardness pressed against my ass.

"How much longer do we have to play nice?"

"Probably until after dessert. My mom made pumpkin pie and she is known county wide for her awesome pie," I explained as I felt him rock back and forth against me.

"I need you Bella."

**EPOV**

Thanksgiving dinner had been one of the more excruciatingly painful events of my life. The day had started out so well too, with Renee getting off my back slightly and then spending several hours cuddling in bed with Bella. I blame the power outage and the rain for this entire mess. I had to play the role of possessive boyfriend again the moment that Jacob walked through the front door with his family. I think dinner would have gone better if we had been sitting with Satan, Sadaam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden. This was torture. We glared at each other through most of the meal and I think that was one of the reasons he ended up blurting out that Bella and I had matching tattoos. He was mad that I had the girl, so he was going to make this as painful for us as possible.

I tried to ease the tension around the table, but Renee seemed livid about it all. Charlie however, didn't seem to give a shit that I had practically branded his daughter. Then again, he hadn't cared about the dark hickey currently gracing his daughter's neck either. I loved Charlie.

Once dinner was over, I made my way over to Bella, who was in the kitchen preparing coffee in an old camping carafe on the stove. I wrapped myself around her and grew hard the moment I was pressed against her. I had no idea where we could go or how we were going to leave for a few minutes of privacy, but I needed desperately and I let her know it.

"I need you Bella."I whispered breathlessly into her ear as she pushed back against me for a moment.

"I want you so bad Edward," she said quietly as she turned around and latched her lips onto mine. "Wait until dessert is over. I think I have an idea." My eyes widened at the sole mention of a possible idea, I was willing to do just about anything to be with her right now. I just had to exercise some patience though. As Bella grabbed a few mugs from the cupboard, the lights flickered back on and everyone in the house got very excited, I think I even heard Billy and Charlie clapping.

Renee came into the kitchen and fixed up her pie, while I helped Bella bring everything else to the table, including dessert plates and forks. As we all sat down, Jacob looked over at me with narrowed eyes and I simply wrapped my arm around Bella's shoulder, pulling her slightly closer to me, as though I was reminding him that she was mine. Luckily for him, he was on his best behavior for the rest of the night because it was taking all of my energy not to beat the shit out of him in front of Bella's family.

"Well, Renee and Charlie, thanks so much for your hospitality," said Billy almost an hour later, as he pushed his chair back from the dining room table. "It was certainly an interesting evening." Charlie and he laughed easily about everything as Rebecca came behind Billy and began to push his wheelchair towards the front door, where Charlie and Jacob lifted the wheels and helped him down the two steps to the ground. "It was nice to see you again Bella. Edward." _Yeah, nice to see you too, thanks for bringing up such an asshole for a son_, I laughed to myself, as I simply nodded my head in acknowledgement of his words. Jacob and Rebecca didn't say anything further, although they both hugged Bella's parents and waved from their truck before pulling out of the driveway.

"Well, that was awkward," laughed Charlie as he led us all back into the house. "You didn't tell me there was anything going on with you and Jacob."

"Ask mom. She seems to think there is a lot going on with me and Jacob," Bella said rudely as she looked over at her mother.

"Had I known there was a bad blood, I wouldn't have extended the invitation, so someone should tell me what is going on," snapped Charlie as she slumped down into a kitchen chair and stared at the two most important people in his life. I was a little shocked that Renee was the one who spoke first.

"Fine, over the summer I may have casually commented to Jacob that Bella was single and would be living in New York while going to Columbia," she remarked casually as Charlie started to glare at her. "I didn't think that whatever she had with Edward in Europe over the summer would last, but I was clearly wrong. Every time I saw Jacob, I might have sort of pushed him into contacting Bella."

"Yeah, there was contact alright, between his face and Edward's fist," Bella said with a giggle as both of her parents looked at me in shock and disappointment. "Don't be mad at Edward, Jacob deserved it the first time and well the second time wasn't really deserved, but I can understand where he was coming from now."

"You've beat him up twice?" asked Charlie incredulously.

"Well, actually sir, the first time I only got one punch in. The second time was more of a beating," I laughed nervously as Charlie stood up and patted me on the back.

"If you were protecting Bella, then good for you son," he said casually as he walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs with Renee fast on his heels, pissed off as all hell. He didn't even want to hear that I had gone all jealous on Jacob, but I didn't care. Charlie liked me. Fuck, he even called me son. I knew I'd never get as lucky with Renee, but I didn't let it bother me.

"So, you want to see something really pretty?" asked Bella as she grabbed my hand.

"Depends on your definition of pretty," I said with a grin as she pulled me out the back door towards the separate garage that was behind her house. Thankfully it had stopped raining, but our shoes still got a bit muddy as we trudged across the back yard and into the small out building. Bella turned on the main light and my eyes widened as I looked down at a huge boat of a car. "What is this?"

"This, my dear boyfriend, is a classic 1959 Chevy impala that my father has been restoring in his free time for almost five years. Pretty isn't it?" said Bella as she guided me around the car. It was certainly pretty, but I honestly couldn't take my eyes off of the huge back seat. "I think you should turn on that lantern over there," she said as she pointed to the tool bench where a small light sat, "and then you should turn off the main light and join me."

I watched in shock as Bella opened the back door of the car and slipped in, pulling her shirt off over her head. I practically ran to the bench and flicked on the lantern as I stumbled back across the garage to shut off the main light. I quickly tossed my own shirt off and joined her in the backseat, where she was lying down, waiting for me. "As cold as tonight is, you are so fucking hot Bella," I whispered to her as I hovered my body over hers, my feet dangling out the door of the car.

"Just so you know, this is going to be one of those quick fucks I forewarned you about. If my father found us fucking his in precious car, he'd be back here with his gun in seconds to use on both of us," she said with a nervous laugh as she grabbed at my belt and began undoing it as quickly as possible.

"Take your own clothes off Bella," I panted to her as I swept her hands away from me and yanked my pants and boxers down in one swift movement. Bella looked at me with complete surprise. "What did you expect? You already did the hard work."

I leaned forward and pulled her bra down, cupping her breasts and revealing her hard nipples to me, which I bit eagerly as she lifted up her ass and shimmied her jeans off of her, tossing them onto the floor. I hadn't even bothered to pull mine off, instead they were puddled around my ankles, making it a bit difficult to move. "Slide your body down a bit," I motioned to her as I grabbed her hips, pulling her back towards me. I was rock hard the moment she pulled her shirt off, but the moment Bella held up a condom in her hand, I was completely ready to go. She ripped open the package and slid the condom onto me as I reached between her legs and began rubbing her clit furiously. I plunged one finger inside of her, and she was already dripping wet for me. I wonder if classic car sex would be better than train sex?

I positioned myself at her entrance and took a deep breath before I plunged my cock inside of her, groaning in ecstasy at the feel of her wrapped around me. "Oh fuck," I muttered quietly as Bella groaned beneath me, her hand grip against the front seat for support. I guided myself in and out of her slowly at first, before picking up the pace at her insistence. I had one hand on her waist and another on the door behind her head as I drilled into her, desperate for release. It was only a few pumps later that I felt Bella shudder beneath me and moan my name constantly, which just spurred me on as I released deep inside of her, a low growl coming from me as I came.

We fixed ourselves up as best as we could and kissed passionately before locking the door to the garage behind us, after I had ran over and turned off the small lantern. When we walked back into the house, it was only twenty minutes later and Charlie was sitting at the kitchen table enjoying another piece of pie slathered with whipped cream. "Where did you two get to?"

"I was just showing Edward the Impala," said Bella nervously as I gripped her hand.

"She's a beauty isn't she?" asked Charlie with a grin as he turned around to get my opinion.

"Beauitful," I replied honestly as I looked down at Bella with a huge smile. "I bet she rides like a dream."

**A/N: Okay, I don't know much about classic cars, except what I have seen on Barrett Jackson Auctions, so don't yell at me. I don't think the 59 Impala has back doors, but it certainly looks like it has a huge back seat, which was all I cared about.**


	44. Impala to New York

**A/N: I'm back. Can you believe it? Thanks to everyone for the kind wishes on the move. Everything went smoothly and my daughter was a pro at the airport, except security where they took a hissy fit because they took her blue's clues dolls to scan through the machine. That was fun.**

**I hope everyone enjoys the after Thanksgiving chapter and reviews their little hearts out.**

**Special thanks to Maggiemay14, lysvia, flightlessbird11, glo4twilight and all the other awesome readers and reviewers.**

**As I have mentioned previously, I will be doing a sequel but I still need ideas for funny places to visit across the U.S. Thanks to those who had made suggestions, they have been awesome! I haven't started it yet, but I do know the entire concept and once AG is done, I will start it. So send your ideas so I can get started on the sequel ASAP! LOL**

**I don't own twilight but I do own every single Harry Potter book and movie and cannot wait for the new movie!**

**BPOV**

The rest of our Thanksgiving visit was fairly uneventful, with the exception of the seemingly genuine apology from my mother for her behavior, which Edward accepted a little too willingly in my opinion. He kept laughing while explaining to me that if we ever saw our selves together in the long term, he had to get on my mother's good side and this was his way of doing it. I couldn't say I agreed with his methods, but at least he was making an effort, which I still felt my mother wasn't. Even as we left the house to head back to Port Angeles to catch our plane out of Washington, I reminded my mother that Edward wasn't going anywhere.

"Bella, you're still young, don't you want to experience all that life has to offer?" she said a bit tensely as Edward and my Dad were shaking hands out by the car, and we were on the porch. I was thankful that they were both far enough away to not hear what she had said to me.

"Why do you seem to think I can't experience these things with Edward?" I asked curiously as we began to walk down the steps and towards the cruiser.

"I never said you couldn't Bella. You're a smart girl and I know you will do what is best for you, but just remember there is a big world out there to see," Renee said as she offered me up an awkward hug. She knew I was upset about her flip actions around Edward, but didn't say anything further about it.

"Yeah, there is a big world out there _Mom_," I said angrily as I leaned forward to her as I kissed her goodbye on the cheek. "Everything exciting and worthwhile I have seen with Edward. Anything else I want to see, he will be right by my side." I didn't give her the chance to respond as I watched Edward hold the door to the cruiser open to me, and I slid in the backseat where he joined me seconds later.

When we finally got back to New York City, I could honestly say I had never felt more relieved in my entire life. Forks hadn't been as stressful as I had initially thought, but it wasn't a picnic either. When the cab pulled up to Edward's apartment, he made me get out with him, insisting on driving me back to my dorm after we unwound for a little bit. The rest of our friends weren't due back till first thing in the morning, and if it wasn't for the fact that I had a class at 10, I would probably be sleeping over at Edward's. He didn't have class at all tomorrow. _Lucky Bastard._

"Want to watch a movie?" he asked curiously as I looked at him in confusion. He had brought our bags up to the apartment from the cab and I was sitting on the couch, simply waiting for him to grab his keys and take me home, it was almost eleven after all.

"No, I don't want to watch a movie," I said with a nervous giggle as he sat down beside me and I again wondered why we weren't going anywhere. "Don't you have to drive me home?"

"Yeah, in a minute. It's not like you're in a hurry to get to someone," he grinned to me as he leaned forward and kissed me sweetly on the lips and then the neck.

"I'm in a hurry to get my head onto my pillow so that I can get to class tomorrow morning," I said with a groan as I realized just how badly I didn't want to go to back to school already.

"Okay, well give me two minutes to talk to you about something," he said gently as I simply laid my head against his shoulder and he began to stroke it softly. "I talked to your Dad today before we left." My heart almost leapt out of my chest as he spoke because he sounded so serious about this. I was suddenly paranoid he had asked my dad for permission to marry me. "I asked if it would be cool if you came to spend Christmas with my family, and he turned me down."

"Shit," I replied quickly as my heart started again. I knew I would marry Edward someday, but that day was definitely not in the immediate future.

"You looked frightened," he said smoothly as I simply giggled.

"No worries, it's all good. So, no go on the Christmas huh? I didn't think so, but thanks for asking without my permission," I replied, still giggling.

"Well, I had to take a shot. We'll figure it out someday, your family gets Christmas and mine gets Thanksgiving, whatever works right?" he said confidently as I simply nodded my head, not quite ready to get into the discussion of which family gets what holidays.

"That's it?" I said in surprise. I thought there was going to be something much bigger going down when we started our conversation.

"Yeah, that's it. I hope you're not mad that I asked your dad. You were talking to your mom about something on the porch and it was in my mind that you would be back in a few weeks and I wouldn't be with you, but I wanted to be with you on Christmas morning." Edward titled his head down as he talked to me and I leaned up and kissed him gently. His heart was always in the right place when it came to us, and some days I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. Those were the days I was with him. Every other day fricking sucked.

Edward drove me home shortly after we indulged in an intense make out session that would have required me to stay over if I hadn't pulled away, common sense ruling out for once rather than my body. When I finally got into my apartment and was lying on my bed, I couldn't sleep. Today I had insisted to my mother that Edward was a major part of my future, but when he mentioned future holidays and I freaked out about marriage, I wondered why the hell I was being so indecisive. I wanted him. I would always want him. But if he proposed right now, I would say no because I wasn't ready. As I fought to fall asleep, I resigned myself to discuss this with Edward and get his take on the situation.

The next few days were hell because I was so busy with class and getting settled back into my routine. Edward and I hadn't seen each other since he dropped me off at the dorm and I was so glad that Friday was finally here. Emmett kept insisting to both Edward and Jasper that they needed a guy's night in, but Edward had apparently forced them into rescheduling till Saturday night because we had special plans. I had no idea what this meant. I thought we were going to dinner at some place near campus, but I could have been wrong. When I finally stumbled out of my room that night in a pair of black dress pants and a cute blue sweater, Rosalie simply scoffed at me and mumbled incoherent phrases as she pushed me back into my room and forced me to change. Apparently everyone but me knew what was going on.

When Edward finally picked me up for dinner around seven, he seemed nervous, thus driving me nuts with worry. "You look beautiful," he said with a sigh as he checked out the simple blue and black dress of Rosalie's that she had forced me to wear. I muttered a quiet thanks and took his hand as he led me from the dorm.

"I hope you're not really hungry because we're running a bit late. I've made reservations for afterwards though, so we'll have a late dinner. Is that okay?" Edward asked as he fidgeted with his hands while we were stuck at a stoplight.

"I'm good. I had some Doritos like five hours ago, so I should be alright until whenever," I said with a laugh as Edward looked at me remorsefully. "No really, it's fine babe. Am I allowed to ask where we are going?"

"Since I'm starving you, it's only right that you know it's for a good reason," he laughed as we pulled up out front of Lincoln Center, before he turned into their self service parking garage. "We're going to the Ballet."

"The Ballet? Seriously Edward, you are not a Ballet kind of guy," I said with a laugh as we drove around for a bit to find a good parking spot.

"I'm not a Ballet kind of guy, but I am a Bella kind of guy and my Bella likes Ballet," he said confidently as he finally pulled into a spot and turned off the car. "Don't think I've gone all out or anything. My parents had tickets and my dad ended up having to fly to Phoenix for a meeting, so my mom offered them to us." I smiled happily and reminded myself to call Esme tomorrow to thank her for her generosity. Edward was around to my door to open it before I had the chance and I quickly wrapped my arms around him and kissed him gently as I straightened his tie slightly.

We ended up having great seats a few rows back on the floor and I sat in awe the entire evening both at the ballet and my boyfriend. It was a few weeks before Christmas and we were seeing 'The Nutcracker', which although I knew a bit about beforehand, was actually a lot better than I expected. I found myself to be excited as we watched the children perform the entire show, dancing across the stage with the nutcracker and the sugar plum fairy. Every time I glanced over at Edward, he was staring straight ahead at the stage, smiling happily while he held my hand in his.

Shortly before the performance ended, I found myself thinking back to my previous worries earlier in the week, our future. I looked at Edward again, the smile plastered on his face like a kid at Christmas, literally, and I knew for certain that I wanted nothing other than him for the rest of my life. Even if I wasn't ready for marriage, I could handle a four year engagement, I laughed to myself as Edward finally glanced at me, noticing the change in my behavior.

When we finally walked into a nearby restaurant for dinner, it was already after ten and my stomach was growling fiercely. I patted it gently, as though telling it that it would be fed soon, but Edward looked at me curiously. "I'm talking to my stomach," I said with a grin as he relaxed, having clearly been thinking of something else, which made me laugh out loud.

"Are you laughing at me?" he asked when we were seated at a quiet booth near the far side of the restaurant.

"Of course I am. When I patted my stomach, you assumed I was pregnant, which is frickin hilarious Edward," I said with a smile as I patted his hand that was lying across the table.

"It's not hilarious, it's terrifying. A baby is the last thing we need right now." He was glaring at me, his eyes clouded over in misplaced fury and I continued to laugh at him and his overreaction. I mentally advised myself to never pat my stomach around him.

"What do we need right now?" I asked as my laughter finally died down and he seemed to relax.

"Food. We need food right now," he said with an anxious grin as he picked up his menu and held it in front of his face, as though hiding himself from me for some unknown reason.

**EPOV**

When Bella patted her stomach while we waited for her table, I honestly thought I might crap my pants. The first thought that came to my mind was that she was pregnant, and I was suddenly terrified, not only for myself but for the child, who definitely did not need me as a father, not right now anyways. When Bella explained that she was simply talking to her hungry stomach, the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders, even though it only rested there for a few seconds. She spent the next five minutes laughing at my assumption before I explained that a baby was not something in the cards for us, right now. Eventually, yes but right now, no way in hell.

Dinner was very casual and Bella gushed for most of the night about how much she had enjoyed the Ballet. I knew she was a whore for basically anything culture related, so when my mother called and offered us the tickets, I jumped at the chance. I knew there was no way that Rosalie could convince Emmett to go even if she offered up innumerable sexual favors in return and while Alice would surely have loved it, she was busy finishing up some classes so that she could make it to Parsons for the winter semester.

We had started to review the dessert menu when Bella suddenly laid hers down on the table and looked at me very seriously. "Can we talk about… the future?" she asked nervously as I laid my menu down on top of hers, having already decided on the Tiramisu and smiled back at her, excited that she wanted to discuss it.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"When you told me that you talked to my dad outside of the house, I immediately thought you had asked him permission to marry me. Funny huh?" she said as she shrugged her shoulders, but she didn't look as though she was laughing.

"If I asked your dad that, I wouldn't have told you Bella," I said with a chuckle as she suddenly turned whiter than usual. "I didn't ask him sweetie, so relax."

"Well then don't fuck with me Edward," she said in frustration as the waitress appeared and we ordered two coffees and two tiramisu's. "I think a discussion of our future is needed, a serious one."

"Okay, well let me ask you this, what do you see in your future?" I asked curiously. I had been wondering for a few weeks now what she thought of when she looked into her future and this was the perfect opportunity to ask her.

"I see you."

"That's it? I see you, babies, mini-vans, houses in Martha's Vineyard for the summer and you see just me?" I asked with a laugh as Bella nodded her head slowly. I leaned forward and took her hands into mine as I started to speak again. "As long as you see me with you, doing whatever the hell it is you want to do, I'm happy."

"What do you want to do in the future, career wise?" she asked quickly as she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I want to play piano and compose, and I can do that anywhere in the world, so I'm going where you go Bella," I said with a grin as I ran my fingers along her palm, which always seemed to calm her.

"I'll be honest; I don't care what the hell we do, as long as we do it together. Any chance you can give me some sort of heads up before you propose so I am not a nervous wreck constantly?" she asked sincerely as I kissed her hands.

"I'm not planning to propose in the immediate future Bella, so relax. As much as I want you in my life for the rest of my life, I think the tattoos are sufficient enough to bind us together right now. When the ring comes, it will be down the road, after we've lived together and I am certain I can handle you 24/7," I said with a laugh as Bella seemed to relax significantly. "So, you're paranoid about me proposing huh?"

"Maybe," said Bella with a small giggle as our coffee and desserts arrived, taking us away from our conversation for a few moments. Once dinner we done, it was almost midnight, but we walked back to the Lincoln Center to pick up my car, and then drove past Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas Tree all lit up before we headed back to my apartment.

Emmett and Rosalie were staying together at the dorms tonight and Jasper had gone back to Boston for the weekend for his dad's birthday, which helped make my plans for the night even easier. "I didn't bring an overnight bag Edward," said Bella with a sigh as we headed up the elevator to my apartment.

"Does it really matter?" I asked casually as I reached into my pocket to pull out my keys. Bella said nothing in response, but the moment we walked in the door, she had unzipped the dress and left it in the hallway as she ran towards my bedroom. I was a little bit surprised by her boldness, but I realized nothing should surprise me about her anymore. I quickly locked the door and headed to my room, where I now found her lying on the bed in simply her bra and panties.

"You look beautiful," I said as I adjusted myself quickly, my hard on clearly evident as Bella looked me over and began to lick her lips.

"Aren't you going to join me?" she asked nervously as I forgot that I was simply standing in front of her, fully dressed, staring at her. I was quick to pull off all of my clothes, including my boxers and join her on the bed, hovering my body above hers as I kissed her lips sweetly.

"Can I say something before I ravish you completely and make you moan my name until you pass out?" I asked her curiously as I leaned back on my knees, thinking of something that had been bothering me since dinner. Bella nodded her head and as my hands ran up the length of her smooth thighs quickly, I blurted out my question. "If I asked you to marry me right now, would you say yes?"

"Yes," she replied immediately as I took a deep breath of relief and leaned forward to kiss her stomach gently, before moving my way up to her neck, which I began sucking on furiously. Bella's hands were on my shoulder and she was pushing me away slightly. "Don't you want to know why?"

"Not really," I replied seriously as I slid the straps of her bra down her shoulders, completely revealing her breasts to me. As I leaned forward to suck one of her nipples into my mouth, she pushed me away again.

"Would you ever consider proposing to me now?" she asked curiously as I leaned back again onto my knees.

"I'd be lying if the thought hadn't crossed my mind, but I realized at Thanksgiving that being with you forever doesn't mean I need to put a ring on your finger right now. If, god forbid, you ended up pregnant tomorrow, I would marry you in a heartbeat though. I meant it all the times I said I couldn't see my future without you in it. Can we have sex now?" I asked breathlessly as Bella nodded her head and I yanked her panties from her, throwing them onto my dresser, where they landed on my unlit lamp. I laughed for a moment as I watched Bella remove her bra completely and drop it onto the floor.

I bent my head forward, my hands moving in time with the rest of my body as they grasped Bella's breasts firmly in my hands, my mouth now wrapped around one of her nipples as I sucked on her gently at first and then harder as I listened to her moan my name in pleasure. It was truly one of the happiest moments of my life when I heard her say my name while I was pleasing her. I immediately lifted her hips up slowly as I moved back on the bed, positioning my face between her legs.

I slowly ran a finger between her folds as she whimpered beneath my touch and I smiled smugly. I spent the next five minutes licking, sucking and fingering every inch of her wetness as she writhed under my fingers. When Bella finally climaxed, screaming my name repeatedly, I smiled again before reaching into my dresser desperately for a condom. She stole it from my fingers and ripped open the package, sliding the condom onto me eagerly as I leaned forward and kissed her lips again.

I thrust into her slowly as she wrapped her legs around my waist, pulling me deeper inside of her. It was heaven on earth, I thought to myself as Bella grinned at me before throwing her head back in ecstasy as I moved faster within her, my cock plunging deep inside of her heat. I groaned quietly under my breath as I rolled off of Bella for a moment and turned her onto her side, as I spooned myself up behind her. I lifted her leg into the air, placing it over my thigh as I plunged myself into her again. This time my hands were wrapped tightly around her, holding her entire body close to me as I filled her over and over again with my hardness.

"Sweet Jesus," exclaimed Bella loudly as my finger found her clit and began rubbing quick little circles around her nub. I was near the edge of exploding when I felt Bella tense around me, her entire body shuddering as she came, loudly screaming my name again. It drove me completely over the edge and I bit down on her neck a little too hard as I burst deep inside of her, unable to speak.

I slipped out of her as I tried to relax my breathing and Bella turned around to face me, her hands now wrapped around my neck as she kissed me passionately. I began to stroke her hair softly and thought quickly for a moment about how lucky I had gotten when I saw her at the airport in New York six months ago. "I love you," Bella mumbled quietly as she curled up against my chest and began to fall asleep. I repeated her words softly to her as my hand found the small of her back and I pulled her as close to me as I could, without being inside of her.

I laid awake for part of the evening, trying to think of ways to celebrate Christmas with her. Bella had told me repeatedly that Christmas was one of her favorite holidays and I desperately wanted to be with her. I knew Bella would suggest us celebrating here before we went away to Boston and Forks, but I already knew Rosalie was planning a party for all five of us and that Emmett was recruited to get a Christmas Tree for their dorm room. I slept restless for the remainder of the night, my mind working in over drive about the holidays. Christmas was quickly becoming my least favorite.

**A/N: Just so everyone knows, the next chapter will be the last one in this story. Of course, I have already mentioned the sequel, so you guys don't have to stress to long about being away from Travelward and Bella.**


	45. New York to Forks

**A/N: Here it is, the last chapter of American Girl. Make sure you have me on author alert so that you know when the first chapters of 'American Boy' come online in the next few days. I know, original title. I suck at titles.**

**Thanks for all the wonderful reviews on the last chapter and please keep it up. I think I'm going to wait till I've reached 1,000 reviews before I post the new story. If that happens too fast though, you will all have to wait until I've done at least one chapter! LOL**

**I don't own twilight, but I do own a copy of Entertainment Weekly with the tiny story about New Moon.**

**EPOV**

The next three weeks were boring at best. Class was winding down for the Christmas break and I was dreading it more than anything before, unless you count when I thought Bella was going to Northwestern and I was going to NYU. Bella and I had worked our way back to our normal routine of seeing each other on Wednesday nights and spending time together on the weekend, so I was at least happy about that. When Bella casually mentioned one night that she already had my Christmas gift, I was a bit nervous because I had been so wrapped up in her and school I had forgotten I needed to get something, so I called Alice for advice.

"I never talk to you anymore and you call me for gift ideas for your girlfriend I've met once?" she said angrily as I tried to soften her up by offering her anything she wanted for Christmas. "Nice try Edward, that's Jasper's department," she explained as I shuddered at the thought of my best friend and little sister together.

"Please Alice. I was going to ask Rosalie, but she would tell Bella that I was having trouble finding something for her. I just need something that doesn't need to be expensive, but something that says I love her," I explained to her while begging for her help. After a few more minutes of annoying the hell out of her, she finally relented and threw out a few suggestions.

"What about an iPod filled with her favorite songs?"

"She's got that already. Hell, I put most of them in there."

"What about something related to her major, art history right? You could get her some books about her favorite artists."

"Not going to work, she already has like a dozen books about every single one of her favorites. I thought about taking her to all the galleries and museums here in town, but she apparently went to two of them while I was back in Boston the week before thanksgiving.

"How meaningful do you want the gift to be?" asked Alice curiously as I leaned back on my bed and looked at the ceiling, as though it would give me the answers.

"Very."

"Since you guys aren't ready for marriage, what about one of those promise ring things? I think they're a bit cheesy, but Bella might like it. I think it sort of implies engagement, without the formality of an engagement ring," said Alice as I thanked her for her help. I was still unsure of what to do, but this was one of the better suggestions. While I spent my afternoon deep in thought, Jasper interrupted to see if I was interested in ordering a pizza with him, and I jumped at the chance to discuss my gift issue with him.

"What are you getting Alice for Christmas?" I asked while we sat on the couch, after he had already ordered dinner. He looked at me with trepidation, clearly not wanting to tell me.

"I can't tell you. Let's just say its better you don't know because you are her brother," he said calmly as I mocked puking beside the couch.

"Alright then. Let's say you were in my shoes and your girlfriend didn't pick out some kinky gift for you to get her, what would you get her?" I inquired curiously as he raised his eye brows at me.

"Okay, so pretending I was dating someone other than Alice, I would probably get them something meaningful to our relationship, but that would depend on the girl. If I wasn't getting Alice what she is forcing me to get her, I would probably get her a necklace with a charm on it that was special to our relationship," said Jasper confidently as he reached down and grabbed the remote to the Xbox and challenged me to a game of Tiger Woods Golf.

"I already got her a bracelet in Paris which I gave to her on our last night together in Europe. Alice suggested a promise ring, you know, as a promise of our future together," I said casually as we waited for the game to load.

"That might work. I don't think it would scare Bella off since I am sure she pictures forever with you anyways, but what do _you_ want to give her for Christmas?"

"Me." I said quickly, before I even realized it. "I should give her me. I wonder if I can convince Mom and Dad to do Christmas on Christmas Eve and then fly out to spend Christmas with her?" I asked Jasper as he looked at me in disappointment.

"You finally get your parents to act like normal people and now you're going to ditch them on Christmas? How fair is that?" he said as we started the game and I turned my attention to it instead of my Christmas problem. Later that night, Bella called while I was getting ready for bed and she sounded upset, which made my heart sink into my chest.

"I'm heading back to Forks tomorrow. Charlie was in a bit of a fender bender while on duty and my mom needs my help. I'm only losing like three days of class and all my teachers are okay with it. I'm sorry we're going to miss our Christmas together," said Bella as she started to cry into the phone.

"Do you want me to come over? I know it's late, I just thought we could at least go to sleep together," I suggested, hopeful that she would say yes, but she didn't. I ended up spending the next half an hour reassuring her that I was fine with her going back home, even though I was saddened. "Charlie's health is a lot more important. We can exchange gifts when you get back before New Years."

"I love you Edward and I promise to call you every single day we're apart," she said sweetly as I heard her sniffling on the phone.

"I love you too and I won't get mad if you miss a day. Go home and help your mom take care of Charlie. Call me and let me know you got home safe though, okay?" Bella agreed and as we hung up the phone, I went into the kitchen and grabbed a beer, cracking it open and sitting on the couch beside Emmett.

"She dump your ass yet?" asked Emmett as I punched him on the shoulder.

"No. Her dad got in a car accident and she's heading back to Forks tomorrow morning." My head was hung low against my chest and Emmett immediately apologized for being an ass. "I didn't want her to go, but I still have no idea what to get her for Christmas. At least now I have an extra two weeks to decide on something."

"If it helps, Mom and Dad won't be around for Christmas so you don't need to buy for them either," said Emmett casually, but I looked up at him in complete shock as I took another sip of my beer. "I guess Alice didn't tell you. Grandpa Brandon is sick and Mom and Dad are leaving Sunday to go and see him for a few days. Dad couldn't get out of work any earlier and they won't be back until the 27th," he explained as my face fell and I was clearly upset to have been left out of the loop.

"That blows. Now what the hell am I going to do?"

**BPOV**

When I finally got off the plane in Port Angeles, I was pissed to discover Jacob holding a small placard that said 'Swan' on it, waiting for me. He was laughing easily once he saw my expression of both frustration and hate.

"Oh calm down Bella. It's a forty minute drive, that's it. Your mom couldn't leave Charlie by himself and everyone else was busy. I got home two days ago and she begged me to come and get you," said Jacob has he led me out towards Billy's old pickup truck.

"The moment Edward finds out about this he's probably going to come out here and kill you," I said with a laugh as I pictured Edward's reaction to the news that Jacob had to pick me up at the airport.

"Then don't tell him. He's way too possessive over you anyways," sighed Jacob as he tossed my bags into the back of the truck and climbed in beside me.

"Whatever," I retorted as I crossed my arms over my chest and stared out the window, wishing for the next forty minutes to be over as quickly as possible. Jacob kept staring between me and the road, which was making me very annoyed.

"So, since I've got you alone, I'm going to take this time to apologize," he said calmly as I looked over at him, feeling more frustrated with him than ever. "Edward's not here to beat me up for talking to you, so I'm taking my chance."

"Doesn't mean I won't beat the shit out of you when I get out the truck," I said firmly as he smiled at me genuinely.

"I missed the real Bella," Jacob said as he gripped the wheel and stared straight ahead. "I'm sorry I cut you out of my life when my mom died. It was stupid and selfish of me and I never once thought about how you would feel at us not being friends anymore. Things would have been different between us now." I looked back at him, not surprised that he was insinuating that we would be dating now had things been different.

"I don't think they would have been that different Jake. It's possible I might have dated you, but I know I would have wound up with Edward in the long run had I not met him in Europe," I said confidently. "He's the brother of my roommate's boyfriend, we would have been together regardless, it just would have started differently."

"Not necessarily. If we had dated, like I knew we would have, it would have been perfect and you wouldn't have gone to Columbia." Jake sounded so sure of himself, but I knew he was dead wrong. I would have gone to Columbia anyways because they had the best Art History program in the country.

"If I simply say that I accept your apology, can we move past this? I'm not with you, I'm with Edward and I plan to be with him for as long as he will have me," I replied confidently as Jacob pulled the car off to gravel shoulder and looked at me seriously.

"You're not marrying him are you?" he asked, sounding very concerned that I had done something far more serious than getting a tattoo with him.

"No, but one day I'm sure we'll do it. We've discussed it and neither of us is ready for that step. We've only been dating for six months, I'm a bit impetuous, but not stupid," I said with a laugh as he looked relieved and turned behind him to check the traffic before turning back onto the road.

"Okay, you've accepted my apology and I've accepted that your boyfriend is a douchebag, let's move on shall we?" joked Jacob as I punched him lightly on the shoulder. We chatted happily for the rest of the ride and he told me about Parsons and how much he loved the school and the big city. Our friendship was always an easy one when we were younger, but it was much more trouble to maintain now that we had grown up. When he pulled out front of our house, I offered up a small hug before I hopped out of the truck and grabbed my bag from the back. He waved slowly as I walked up to the porch, eager to see my parents.

Charlie was sitting in his old recliner with his leg in a huge green cast. It was a gigantic eyesore, and I could only imagine that my mother insisted it be green to match her Christmas decorations. "Hey Stranger," I said with a grim smile as I leaned down and hugged my father, after leaving my luggage by the door.

"Hey Kiddo. It's good to see you, I only wish it was a few days from now," he said with a smirk as I mussed up his salt and pepper hair and looked around for my mom. "She's working on laundry down in the basement," he said as he noticed me looking for Renee.

"So, what happened? Do I need to put a hit out on someone?" I asked with a laugh as my father frowned at me. Always the police officer, I thought with a smile.

"I was responding to call and some jackass missed a stop sign and hit the cruiser on the driver's side. Everyone said I was lucky that there was nothing more than a few broken ribs and a broken leg," said Charlie casually, clearly not too affected by the injuries. "Your mom has to work for the next three days so you get to play nursemaid for me. Care to start now? I could use a beer," he asked I stood from the couch beside him and went towards the kitchen.

"No Beer," my mom shouted as she walked in the living room carrying a big basket of laundry. "They mess with his prescription, so no beer." I looked down at my Dad and frowned because he had tried to trick me, but he just shrugged his shoulders and I realized that spending all this time alone with my mother would probably require me to have a drink or ten.

We ended up enjoying a quiet dinner in the living room with Charlie still perched in his chair. They both made small talk to me about school and they both apologized for having to send Jacob to come and get me at the airport, which I just brushed off. It wasn't important anymore. "What's Edward up to for Christmas?" asked Renee casually as I glanced over at Charlie, recalling what Edward had told me about asking for me to join him for the holidays in Boston.

"He's at home with his family," I said casually as I picked up all of our plates and went to the kitchen to start the dishes. After dinner, my mom gave me a list of all of the things I was supposed to keep away from Charlie, which was basically everything he liked. She had already made lunches for him and they were in the fridge and simply needed reheating, which was nice. I ended up going to bed early that night after I texted Edward to let him know I had arrived safely.

_I'm home and it's painful. I miss you –B_

It didn't take him long to respond to me, not that I thought it would. He seemed just as bored as I did and it was already after midnight there.

_Can't sleep. Playing golf with Jasper. Tell Charlie I hope he feels better. I love you –E_

I sent back a quick message telling him that I loved him too and curled up in bed, my pillow close to my chest as my heart ached to be away from him. The rest of the day I found it easier to think about him, but now as I lay alone in my old bedroom, I was pathetically sad without him.

When I woke up the next morning, it was snowing like crazy outside and my dad was on the phone in the living room talking to someone. "She's awake. I'll see you later in the week," was all I managed to decipher before he hung up the phone and wished me a good morning.

"What's so good about it?" I huffed as I strolled into the kitchen and grabbed myself a big cup of coffee. "Do you need anything right now?"

"A beer," he said with a laugh as I rolled my eyes and walked back into the living room, sitting on the couch and wrapping a blanket around me as I took a sip of my coffee, letting the warm liquid soothe my entire body. "So it looks like a white Christmas."

"Um, yeah," I said casually at my dad as he began flipping through various channels. The rest of the day went pretty much the same as the morning, with Charlie trying to convince me to give him things he wasn't allowed and then talking on the phone about random things. I gave up around noon trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about and headed outside to shovel the walkway and snowblow the driveway before Renee got home from work.

I called Edward shortly after dinner, but he seemed as normal as always. He was heading back to Boston tomorrow morning with Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie. He wasn't excited about the holidays, but insisted in pretending for the sake of his parents. I was about to mention the fact that Jacob had picked me up from the airport the day before, but decided against in. Instead, I told him how much I loved and missed him and promised to make it up to him when I was back in New York.

**EPOV**

The moment Emmett told me that my parents weren't even going to be around for the holidays, I knew what had to be done. I had to get to Forks to see Bella. I looked up flights online and found one that would get me to Port Angeles around 4 on Christmas Eve Day. It would be perfect, but I didn't want the expense of paying a cab to take me to Forks, so I called Charlie and told him my problem. Since he was laid up and unable to get me, he insisted he had someone who would be willing. I didn't feel overly comfortable about spending a forty minute drive to Forks with a stranger, but Charlie said he trusted the person implicitly, and that was enough for me. I was willing to do almost anything to see Bella on Christmas.

After I grabbed my bag from luggage claim, I walked towards the exit and stopped when I noticed Jacob standing outside with a little sign that said 'douchebag'. Had I actually liked this guy, I would have been laughing my ass off.

"Lucky me," I said with a forced smile as Jacob shrugged his shoulders and led me towards a beige pickup truck. I threw my bags in the back and hopped in beside him. "Thanks, I guess."

"No problem. I'm Charlie's limo service these days," he said with a confident laugh as I took in his words and realized he probably picked Bella up a few days ago.

"Well, thanks anyways."

"I would do anything for the Swans', they are practically family," he said as he glared at me before turning the truck on and pulling out of the parking lot. "I know she loves you, hell she's even mentioned marrying you; I just hope you don't break her heart."

I was kind of shocked at the words coming out of Jacob's mouth, but quickly assumed that if Bella was stuck in this truck with him for almost an hour, they probably had to talk about something, and I realized I wasn't mad about it. "I won't. I don't think I could live without her if I did."

Jacob just nodded his head as we turned out onto the two lane highway and headed off to Forks. He actually tried to pull me into various conversations, although I was not really proficient in any topics until he discussed his architecture classes at Parsons. I told him how my mother had gone there for the same program several years ago and had even designed our current home, which surprised him. "Yeah, it was before the marriage, so if you see Esme Brandon on anything, that's my mom."

"No shit," he said with a grin as he recounted one of his older teachers mentioning her in passing a few weeks ago. He seemed impressed with this newfound knowledge, but I knew it was just a piece of paper on the wall of her office now. She didn't do anything even remotely design related once us kids were born.

As we turned onto Bella's street, I found myself apologizing to Jacob for being an asshole to him in the past, and vice versa. We shook hands before I stepped out the car, reassuring him once again, that I would do nothing to hurt Bella. Once I grabbed my bag and looked up at her unassuming house, I smiled brightly, knowing that Bella was now only a few feet away from me. I climbed the steps of her porch eagerly and knocked on the door, peering into the glass to see who was coming for me.

As the door opened quickly, Bella stood there for a moment, but was looking towards the living room, not me. "Here's a twenty, no change needed," she said as she thrust the money towards me, clearly expecting some sort of delivery.

"All I'm worth is twenty dollars?" I said as I huffed at her indignantly and laughed when she turned towards me, her face covered in pure shock. "Merry Christmas."

"Holy Shit," she called out excitedly as Charlie chastised her from the living room and I smiled as she reached out and wrapped her hands around my neck, hugging me tightly to her. "What are you doing here?"

It took her a few minutes to step away from me, but when she did, she was still beaming with excitement. "My granddad got sick, so my Mom and Dad are visiting him for a few days. Emmett's with Rosalie's family and Alice is obviously with Jasper's, so here I am," I said as I shrugged my shoulders and she finally moved enough to let me into the house.

"Hey Edward," called Charlie from the living room, where I noticed him sitting in his recliner, a big green cast propped up on the ottoman.

"Thanks for the help Charlie," I replied as I grabbed my bag and dropped it on the floor beside the door, only to have Bella pick it up seconds later and pull me upstairs with her to her bedroom. Once we were upstairs, she shut the door behind us quietly and grabbed me to kiss me passionately.

"I have missed you," I replied as I felt her tongue snake out and run along my bottom lip. "I see you've missed me too."

"It is so boring here. I've been waiting on my Dad for almost a week, talk about painful," she said with a groan as she fell back onto her bed. I climbed up beside her on the tiny mattress and wrapped my arms around her, kissing her neck tenderly. "I'm still in complete shock that you are here."

"Well, thank my sick grandfather. I wanted to come and visit, but Jasper convinced me that since I had worked to put my family back together, it wouldn't make sense to drop Christmas with them so that I could be with you. Of course, when I found out my parents wouldn't be around for the holidays, I booked a flight out and made arrangements with Charlie to pick me up." Bella turned around and looked up at me with bright eyes.

"Who picked you up?" she inquired calmly as I smiled back at her the biggest grin I could muster.

"Jacob. I killed him before we got to the truck though, so he won't be a problem anymore," I laughed as she punched me in the shoulder playfully. "Okay, he's still living and I didn't touch him, unless the hand shake when he dropped me off counts. We made amends, I guess you could say," I explained as I pulled her closer to me.

"I guess Christmas miracles do happen," she said with a giggle as we snuggled in bed for another ten minutes until Renee showed up and quickly threw open the bedroom door.

"Door stays open when you two are in here together," she said with a smile as Bella and I both rolled our eyes at her before following her down the stairs when the pizza had finally arrived. Our dinner was comfortable, as we sat in the living room with Charlie, eating our Dominos and watching a Planet Earth marathon on the Discovery Channel. Renee was on her best behavior and I figured Charlie probably had words with her before I arrived in an effort to make this a good Christmas for Bella.

When we finally got ready for bed, it was almost midnight. We had been watching 'It's a Wonderful Life' with Charlie and Renee while snuggling on the couch and every time I looked over at Renee, I would catch her smiling at us. Apparently I was winning her over, even though I wasn't trying anything. As we curled up in her bed, I decided to give Bella her Christmas gift then, away from her parents.

"Yours is back in New York, since I thought I wouldn't see you for a few more days," she said with a frown as I pulled her hair back from her eyes and gently kissed her cheek.

"I don't care Bella. Being with you right now is gift enough for me. In fact, feel free to return whatever the hell you got me," I said firmly, knowing full well she couldn't afford anything extravagant for me for Christmas.

"I didn't buy you anything, I made something," she said shyly as I kissed her cheek again, surprised that she would go to such effort.

"Can you tell me what it is then? That would be my gift."

"I made you a scrapbook of our summer together," she said sweetly as I wrapped her tighter in my arms and kissed her passionately, my tongue practically down her throat. "It's got train tickets, small mementos, receipts for restaurants… all the cheesy shit."

"That is the best given anyone has ever told me they got me," I said with a laugh when I finally pulled away. "I guess my gift will suck in comparison."

"Okay, give it to me. I'm ready for it," Bella said with a smile as she held out her hands to me and I pulled a small box from her dresser. Her mouth immediately dropped open and I laughed as I reassured her. "It's not an engagement ring."

"I would still say yes, if it was," she said with a grin. "But I'm glad it's not." When she opened the box, she immediately thought I had been lying, because in front of her laid a ring, just not an engagement ring.

"If you don't like it, let me know. Alice gave me the idea, and I sort of ran with it," I said nervously as she pulled it from the box and looked it over. "If you don't want to wear it, it's okay. I have a chain you can put it on," I added as I pulled another small box from the table and handed it to her. She didn't open the second box though; she just stared at the ring I had given her. It was a simple platinum band with a small heart in the center, and a small sapphire inside of the heart. It didn't cost nearly as much as I had been willing to spend on Bella, but when I saw her begin to cry, I knew it had been the right choice.

"It's a promise ring right?" she asked through her tears and I simply nodded. "What finger do I put it on?"

"I think if you want it to symbolize a future engagement then it goes on the left ring finger but if you want it to mean something else, you put it wherever you want," I replied as I stared at her, while she tried to decide where to put it.

"Where do you want me to put it?"

"Wherever you want to Bella. No pressure remember? I'm not proposing… yet."

I watched as Bella slipped it on her left ring finger, just like I thought she would. She raised her hand up and examined the ring again as I smiled happily and let a long breath free. "Oh, I have a gift for us from my parents," I added nervously as I pulled out the small box Alice had given me this morning before I left.

I handed it to Bella and let her open it, after all it was addressed to both of us. She pulled on the ribbon which was crushed against the box from being in my suitcase and smiled at me, the biggest smile I had ever seen on her face. "Do you know what it is?" she inquired as she began to pull the wrapping paper free, only to leave a long, thin white box. I curled up closer to Bella, my head resting on her shoulder as she pulled the lid from the box and pulled out the contents.

"They're plane tickets," I said as she opened up the envelopes to reveal two tickets to Paris. "Holy hell."

"It's not just plane tickets Edward. It's another Eurorail pass, for each of us, and they expire a year from now," said Bella anxiously as she handed me the papers and I began to examine them closely. She was right. Direct flights from New York to Paris which expired in a year and a Eurorail pass with the same expiration.

"I guess I know what we're doing next summer," I said with a laugh as I looked over at Bella. "What's wrong? Now we can go to Switzerland, Ireland and Portugal like you wanted to. Perhaps we can even rent that boat again in Amsterdam and finally have sex on it," I said with a grin.

"I kind of wanted you to spend part of the summer here in Forks with me and I wanted to spend some of it in Boston with you," said Bella as she nuzzled closer to me, her breath hot against my neck.

"We can do that Bella. We don't need to spend two months in Europe. If you want, we can spend only a month there, and then two weeks together in Forks and two weeks together in Boston. Then we can find our own apartment together in New York," I added in, trying to test the waters of what she wanted to do next year.

"Okay, deal," said Bella confidently as we lay back down on the bed, her head against my chest and my fingers running gently through her hair. "Thank you for coming for Christmas."

"I wouldn't be anywhere else Bella," I said firmly as I leaned forward and kissed her temple gently as we tightened our grip on one another, knowing full well that both of us was planning to never let go.

**A/N: I know, shitty ending. Think positive, the new story should be started in a few days. It will not be a continuation from this moment; it will be a few years into the future.**


	46. Sequel American Boy Posted

**For all you faithful American Girl readers, please note that the sequel, American Boy has been started and Chapter 1 was recently posted. I hope to update it as frequently as possible, as per usual.**

**Thanks for all of your support.**

**-Coldplaywhore**


	47. AG Nominated for Cullenizer Award

Okay, so I am totally shitting bricks because I just found out that American Girl was nominated for a Twilight Cullenizer Award for Best All-Human Story. _*about to fucking pass out*_

Voting has already begun, so if you loved the story as much as I enjoyed writing it, head on over to the Cullenizer Awards website here: xmissstrawberriesx(dot)webs(dot)com There is also a link on my profile page.

Voting has already begun, so hop to it. I wish I could bribe you with cookies and extra spicy lemons, but it's all good. It's an honor just to be nominated and I am totally flabbergasted. Thanks to gee1995 for nominating me and for everyone who votes, even if it's not for me.

Voting starts today and ends on August 10th, so get on it. Go vote.

Ok… PSA done… back to working on new Love Will Come Through Chapter.


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